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Author Archives: Joe Derhake PE

Pre-Lease Phase I Environmental Site Assessments

Our Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) practice most commonly focuses on pre-loan and pre-acquisition due diligence, but pre-lease Phase I ESAs are common enough.    In this blog I seek to highlight the value equation for pre-please Phase I ESAs as well as give users the tools to decide what, if any, environmental due diligence…

Building Partner’s Green Headquarters

Entry by JoeDerhake Entry   Over the last couple years, Partner purchased and did a major green retrofit of our headquarters building in Los Angeles (Torrance).  We wanted to put our beliefs into practice, not only by implemented energy efficient and sustainable technologies (the building will be LEED Silver certified in upcoming months), but also…

Building Partner’s Green Headquarters (1 Comment)

Entry by JoeDerhake Entry   Over the last couple years, Partner purchased and did a major green retrofit of our headquarters building in Los Angeles (Torrance).  We wanted to put our beliefs into practice, not only by implemented energy efficient and sustainable technologies (the building will be LEED Silver certified in upcoming months), but also…

What Environmental Consultants Need to Know about Attorney Client Privilege

Entry by JoeDerhake Entry Clients often engage us to do Phase I Environmental Site Assessments and/or Phase II ESAs through their attorney to maintain attorney client privilege.     At times, I have even advised clients to hire an attorney for this reason (as well as to get good legal advice).   If the work and communications are…

What Environmental Consultants Need to Know about Attorney Client Privilege (3 Comments)

Entry by JoeDerhake Entry Clients often engage us to do Phase I Environmental Site Assessments and/or Phase II ESAs through their attorney to maintain attorney client privilege.     At times, I have even advised clients to hire an attorney for this reason (as well as to get good legal advice).   If the work and communications are…

Good Bye Registered Environmental Assessors (REA)

Entry by JoeDerhake Entry I was saddened to hear that California is discontinuing the Registered Environmental Assessors (REA) Program as of July 1, 2012.     A lot of my colleagues, inside and even outside of California, carry this registration and they are definitely deflated by this news. This really increases the need for a national environmental…

Environmental Due Diligence When Inheriting Real Estate

What type of environmental due diligence should you do prior to taking title to real estate that is given to you?   Is doing a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment a bit like looking a gift horse in the mouth? A Connecticut woman recently inherited a commercial property that had formerly been a gas station and,…

The basics of the New Jersey LSRP Program

The New Jersey Site Remediation Reform Act (SRRA) was signed into law by in 2009 and is significantly changing how New Jersey handles site remediation.  The SRRA law, which created the Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP) program, is modeled after a similar Massachusetts law and streamlines the investigation and remediation of environmentally impaired sites.   Historically, the New…