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1. Who’s in charge here: is it the State or Federal government?
If the feds, is it a Superfund site? If the State, is there more
than one State agency that could have jurisdiction? If so, is there
some way to get them all to cooperate?
2. I’ve heard about getting one agency to be the "lead"
on a site. How do you do that and is it worth it?
3. My consultant tells me that the cleanup costs are within reason.
How do I know whether to trust that conclusion? What if he’s wrong?
If I send him on to the site to do sampling, do I have any risk
of liability?
4. Do cleanup costs vary with my planned use of the property? What
type of deed restrictions are likely if I don’t clean up to some
sort of pristine level?
5. My consultant also tells me that there is a proposed Remedial
Action Plan for the part of the site that was used solely as a steel
mill, a No Further Action letter for the gas station that shut down
in 1997, and no agency involvement in the landfill parcel. Does
that mean that the cleanup is pretty well defined? If not, how long
will it take to get signoffs?
6. Will my ability to develop the property turn on cleanup approvals?
Completion of cleanup? Wouldn’t that take years?
7. I’ve heard that EPA and States can grant immunity to purchasers
of contaminated property? How can I get that, and what protection
would it give me?
8. What kind of insurance is available to guard against liability
for personal injury, increased remediation costs, and offsite property
damage? Is it costly? Won’t indemnities from the seller be sufficient?
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