BLDI services

BLDI provides environmental risk identification, assessment, quantification, and mitigation services to lenders, private equity firms, purchasers, and sellers of businesses and real estate. Liability mitigation can be obtained through use of statutory protections, legal agreements, and transfers, as well as remediation of contaminated media. BLDI’s staff has extensive experience in all such manners of EDD and risk management. BLDI provides guaranteed schedules for Phase I EDD work to ensure clients’ projects will be done on time. For mergers & acquisition work, the estimation of environmental liabilities can be an unforeseen complexity. BLDI uses the latest guidance (FAS 141R) to address, identify, and quantify such liabilities.

A Phase I ESA is the first step in the process of Environmental Due Diligence (EDD). It is a report prepared by an Environmental Professional (EP) for a commercial or industrial real estate holding with the process guided by the ASTM E-1527 standard. The purpose of a Phase I ESA is to identify potential or existing environmental contamination liabilities.

A Phase II is conducted on site-specific property when Recognized Environmental Conditions (RECs) have been found during the course of a Phase I ESA. The Phase II is very site-specific and the sampling can vary widely depending on the geography and type of media that is potentially affected. Samples typically consist of groundwater, soil, or soil vapor/soil gas. Samples are sent to a lab and typically analyzed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PNAs), and/or metals. When these compounds are present at concentrations less than the specified state criteria/screening levels, the Phase II is complete. If compounds are present at concentrations above the specified state criteria, either remediation of the property is next, or as is the case within Michigan, a Baseline Environmental Assessment is completed along with a Due Care Plan/Continuing Obligations (DCP/CO).

Your Underground Storage Tank (UST), that thing lurking just below the surface of your property . . . the one you’d rather not think about . . .is “delaying my plans and I’m just too busy to deal with it.” You may wonder, do I qualify for the MUSTA cleanup fund? How much will my UST insurance renewal cost me? Is the insurance/MUSTA actually worth anything? Are my USTs leaking? Could I get tagged with a big cleanup bill? Does my current consultant understand how to minimize the cost to ME? These are some of the questions that wake up many of our clients at 3am.

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral fiber found in soil and rock. It is widely used in products for its insulating and fire-resistant properties. Asbestos can be found in a wide range of products including building materials, such as ceiling tiles, floor tiles, insulation, textured paint, patching compounds used on ceilings, and fireproofing materials. However, airborne asbestos fibers may result in serious medical conditions if inhaled, including lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis.

A “brownfield” is a property which cannot be expanded, re-used or redeveloped due to the presence of contamination. Left abandoned, these sites can blight neighborhoods, breed crime, and stop economic development. The Federal EPA has programs that work with state and local governments to re-develop these properties, allowing not only improvement of the environment, but also the creation of jobs and the increase in the property tax base. Brownfield grants are available to offset the assessment and cleanup costs associated with re-developing these properties.

The complexity of environmental response requires environmental professionals with years of experience applying federal and state statutes, conducting remedial investigations and feasibility studies, preparing remedial action plans and cost allocations, and assessing site closure and post-closure obligations. Since 1991, BLDI has been providing the complete spectrum of investigation and remediation services to private companies and government. Our petroleum remediation design specialists utilize innovative approaches to evaluate and operate remedial systems for optimum and cost effective performance.

The Environmental RiskScan® RSRA provides a means to get a snap shot of your environmental risks to make informed decisions quickly. The Environmental RiskScan® RSRA meets or exceeds the requirements of SBA’s records search and risk assessment (RSRA).

BLDI has developed unique expertise in forensic engineering and environmental forensics to assist legal counsel, underwriters, claims and corporate clients for cases involving environmental and engineering issues.

Incremental Sampling (IS) is a combined field sampling and laboratory sample processing protocol that is designed to provide an unbiased and statistically valid estimate of the mean value of a contaminant (within pre-defined boundaries) at a site. IS reduces or limits the data variability commonly associated with more traditional discrete field sampling practices and laboratory methods. When properly executed, IS produces unbiased and reproducible data that, in most cases, are more representative of the contaminant concentrations at contaminated sites than could be achieved using traditional discrete sampling practices. As a result, the IS approach can provide better information from which decisions regarding contaminant concentrations at a site will be made.