Phase I Environmental Site Assessment for a Former Marina Property in Key West, Florida

PM Environmental, Inc. was retained to conduct a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment on a former marina property in Key West, FL.  The property was owned by a bank following a foreclosure and PM conducted the Phase I for the prospective buyer.

The subject property was listed in the regulatory files as a leaking underground storage tank site.  There were two discharges reported in 1992 and 2007.  PMs team reviewed the regulatory files and found that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) had no record of the initial release.

After close examination of the information about the 2007 release, PMs team observed inconsistencies in the site assessment report.  The report had been done for several properties as part of a redevelopment, and the site plan in the report seemed inconsistent with the layout of our property.

More examination revealed that the former marina had two different locations, with two facility ID numbers.  The site plan matched the other location, not PMs subject property. 

PM called the regulator to discuss and, after examining the file, he confirmed that the discharge should have been under the other facility ID only. As it turns out, the discharge had been erroneously filed under both facility IDs.

The other location had actually gone through remediation and cleanup was complete there. However, three separate consultants had performed Phase I assessments on the site and none picked up on this error.  Only PM examined the files critically enough to discover this oversight. The FDEP acknowledged the issue and agreed to rescind both discharges from the record.