What Is A Phase II Environmental Site Assessment?
A Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessment follows a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment and investigates the Recognized Environmental Conditions, or REC, identified in the Phase 1 report. A Phase 2 investigation (sometimes referred to as a Limited Site Investigation or LSI) is intended to confirm the presence or absence of actual chemical or petroleum releases from each of the REC listed in the Phase 1 report. If no RECs were found during the Phase 1 ESA, then a Phase 2 investigation would not be needed.
In most cases, the Phase 2 Environmental Site Investigation will collect soil, groundwater or soil vapor samples near the locations of the RECs. Samples are then sent to a laboratory for chemical analysis. The Phase 2 is considered a “limited” site investigation because the scope to limited to investigating the presence or absence of actual chemical or petroleum releases from each of the REC listed in the Phase 1 report.
If no indications of chemical or petroleum releases are found, then the site investigation ends. If the results show that some releases have occurred, State and Federal laws may require reporting to the appropriate agencies. In this case further investigation may be required to determine the magnitude and extent of the contamination and to determine if site remediation is needed. The subsequent investigations are sometimes referred to as Phase 3 Environmental Site Assessments and are not typically included during Phase 2 investigations.