I’m looking at a derelict service station in a Victorian regional centre.
The neighbours say the site is contaminated . Does anyone have expierience in dealing with this and solving the problem ? How would you get an idea of approximate costs etc ?
I would be looking at doing a modest industrial development.
Shawn
Hi Shawn
I’m a joint venture partner in a commercial property in Vic that was leased to a very large international pharmaceutical company. The plan was to develop the site once their lease expired. When they left we discovered that the site was contaminated and we are now in the process of legal action. This has delayed our development by almost 12 months and could be more.
The site has to be cleared and cleaned and this is expensive as well as time consuming. Depending on the nature and severity of the contamination will determine the cost. It might be wise to seek details from the council but more importantly it would be necessary to get obtain advice from soil engineers amongst others.
Hope this is of some help.
Good luck
pr
Soils from a service station would have some fuel that have spilled ind washed into the soil, you will find that the the soil is to be removed from the ground and tested and treated to neutralise if possible.a geotechnicial assessment is needed for the site and a action plan.
Thanks for the advise Pete R and Q.
Will talk to the local council and do some more research on . I suspect it may cost more than the sale price to have the problem cleaned up and it may also take some time.
Sorry to here about your joint venture problems Pete. Let us know how you get on. It sounds like your leasee is in the wrong. I expect the outcome is complicated. Good luck.
Shawn
Shawn,
In my ‘real’ work as a civil engineer i’ve dealt with a few service station redevelopments.
Council will probably tell you that you to submit an enviro mgt plan, which you’ll most likely need an environmental scientist/engineer to complete. They will organise geotech testing of the soil and can give cost estimates for remediation of the soil. This can be costly.
Typical problems are definitely the contamination from surface spillage leaching into the soil, but don’t forget the big fuel tanks they have underground – who knows what condition they’re in.
Hope this helps…
gregoNot far from where I live an old servo was sold for development into a very small shopping centre. The owner simply dug up the entire place, built an underground car park and refilled with imported soil the front for the level car park area and built two stories over the rest.Bingo.
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Marc…http://www.chosen4u.com/?aceShawn,
I have had experience with organising assessment and remediation of contaminated sites for my employer. I would also suggest contacting the EPA Victoria for further guidance.While clean up can be done, it can be very expensive, and can take a significant amount of time. Council are likely to expect you to demonstrate that this has been done before you can redevelop. Definitely go into this with your eyes open – a fair bit of research is required – but that doesn’t mean redevelopment isn’t feasible.
If you have nothing more to go on than the word of the neighbours, you can ask the owner if they have done soil or groundwater testing. It’s also worth finding out if there are any underground storage tanks (UST’s) on the site, or if they have been removed. Contamination is most likely to have come from leaks in these. If no tests have been done, you could make the contract subject to soil tests and groundwater tests showing no contamination (of course, see your lawyer about the fine print). Alternatively, if the contract declares the contamination, find out what is involved in the clean-up and perhaps use this to negotiate on price/terms.
If it hasn’t been tested, you can hire someone to undertake an “EPA screen”, which is basic soil sampling. Again, the EPA can probably suggest accredited companies that can do these tests. This isn’t cheap, and will depend on the site’s size, how deep the sampling goes, and how many samples are taken. Following this, you can make a more informed decision as to whether to do groundwater tests. Enviro consultants can also advise as to the likely clean-up costs and timeframe involved, and whether an Environmental Audit will be necessary.
PM me if you need clarification or a consultant recommendation.
Good on you for doing your investigations – and I’ll keep my fingers crossed that this site turns out to be a ‘goer’for you.
Leila
I think you got most of the info from those above but a few further points and questions to those in the know.
I believe if new development is to take place, the existing tanks have to be removed and disposed of prior to new development.
Most of the environmental issues is due to leaching of the fuels into the ground predominantly from leaking fuel tanks, not usually from spillage. My question is though, what are the legal ramifications from neighbouring properties? Say you have a petrol station which has been leaching nasties into the ground for 20 years and naturally leaches into the neighbours ground. In time to come, the neighbours want to develop but discover their ground is contaminated due to the old petrol station. Who is now liable for the remediation of their land? You, being the current owner, them, for knowingly buying next to a petrol station, or the previous owner of the petrol station?
Not wanting to sound like a doomsayer, but be careful when dealing with issues like this. The ramifications could potentially be huge. Get legal and geotechnical advice before committing!
cheers
Jan
Hi guys,not really on the servo topic,but I have had experience with other contaminated sites before.We built 5 townhouses on what was the site of a police station.The ground was contaminated with lead and arsenic ,and all that was required was that the ground was completely sealed.ie,all external areas had to be concreted,and garden beds had to go on top of the concrete.It worked well,but obviously a servo is a different kettle of fish.I know a demolition guy who specialises in servo rahabilitation.If you are in Victoria,I can pass you his contact details and he coul dgive you a ball park figure of what it would cost to remove the tanks,turn over the soil etc.
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