For Ontario property owners, including individuals and companies, environmental due diligence is one of the most critical, key consideration, especially as the provincial government increases its stringent policies and regulations for Ontario environmental site assessments, as outlined under the Environmental Protection Act, O. Reg. 153/04: Records of Site Condition.

Keeping Costs Down Without Jeopardizing Your Due Diligence

  • A report released by Nielsen Environmental Field School demonstrates that budget restriction is the most significant factor in limiting proper site characterization. It makes sense – environmental risk management can be costly, but it pays off to be proactive to help you achieve your site goals and protect you from potential liability from future environmental issues. 

[Recommended Reading: How Much Does an Environmental Site Assessment Cost?]

A constrained budget can jeopardize your due diligence when it comes to environmental site assessments, causing the following steps to be overlooked, left behind or  lose priority:

The Importance of Conducting Proper Site Characterization

Conducting the proper  site characterization is essential because it allows you to:

  1. Choose the most suitable remedial approach based on your goals
  2. Provides sufficient information to enable purchases, lenders or those providing permits, to assess their risk
  3. Saves time and money by enabling you to make data-informed decisions

Why Hire An Experienced Environmental Firm?

When buying, selling, managing or redeveloping a property, there a lot at stake. Consider hiring an experienced firm who specializes in environmental assessments to help you understand the process and your options. Experience and strategically driven expertise can help you manage your site’s environmental characterization without cutting corners that your purchases, lenders or those providing permits may require.

Three Essential Components For Ontario Environmental Site Assessments:

  1. Use foresight to anticipate what your unique site will require in coming years:
    For instance, will you be selling the property or changing the land use? We recommend reaching out early to help you understand the potential time and costs that may be involved, to avoid delaying your future plans. Your environmental consultant may be able to help you break up a project over multiple years, if necessary.
  2. Consider using an iterative approach to your site data collection process that includes on-site testing: This characterization method can provide detailed site data regarding contaminants of concern, geology, and hydrogeology at a much lower cost than traditional laboratory testing.
  3. Ask your environmental experts to help you understand collected site data:
    Often, a thorough discussion, or seeing a site map that includes geological and hydrogeological site features and lab data superimposed allows for better, more rapid conclusions to be made. This saves time and money – and on a limited budget for environmental site work, it can make a huge difference in the success of the project.

Do you have site-specific questions? Speak with an expert today.

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