A dry cleaner next door or nearby

A dry cleaner, open now or long closed, adjoins the subject property or stands near it, and no release is known on the subject property. Whether that makes a recognized environmental condition (REC) depends on four things: whether a release at the cleaner is known, what the operation was, how the two properties sit, and what the file shows.

What the answer turns on

The REC definition asks about hazardous substances or petroleum products at the subject property (E1527-21, 3.2.73). The standard's nonmandatory appendix adds that a REC cannot lie off the subject property, though an off-site release can cause one (E1527-21, X4.1). Each fact below bears on whether the cleaner's contaminants are present, or likely present, at the subject property.

• A known release, or a likely one. By the appendix, a documented release at the cleaner leaves one judgment: whether presence at the subject property is likely. Without one, two are needed together: a likely release there, and likely presence here (E1527-21, X4.1). Likely means not proved, but what a reasonable observer would expect on the environmental professional's logic, experience and stated evidence (E1527-21, 3.2.73.1).
• The operation. The professional considers what releases the historical uses of adjoining and surrounding properties could have led to (E1527-21, 8.3.1). For a likely release the appendix points to operations involving hazardous substances, how long they ran and when. Its note on on-site operations gives dry cleaning run for a significant period before regulatory controls as a possible example, if the professional believes a release likely (E1527-21, X4.1). Establish whether cleaning was done at the address, and for how long.
• Position and setting. When the site visit points to a likely release on a nearby property that could reach the subject property, the standard requires the geology, groundwater, topography and other environmental information to be evaluated for whether a REC at the subject property likely results (E1527-21, 9.4.6). The appendix adds where the source lies, adjoining or nearby; its example is a source up-gradient in sandy soils over shallow groundwater (E1527-21, X4.1). Migration includes vapor in the subsurface, though nothing in the practice requires applying the separate vapor guide (E1527-21, 3.2.53, 3.2.53.1).
• What the file shows. The appendix lists reports, data and information from the regulatory authority, the database report or prior assessments among what bears on likely presence (E1527-21, X4.1).

The records that bear on it

• Historical sources. Obvious uses of adjoining properties are identified, with earliest dates, from the aerial photographs, fire insurance maps, street directories and topographic maps researched for the subject property (E1527-21, 8.3.9). A retail strip may have held a dry cleaning tenant (E1527-21, 8.3.7). What adjoined the property in the past may differ from what adjoins it now (E1527-21, 8.3.2).
• Government records. A dry cleaner may appear as a hazardous waste generator, a notification and not a release (RCRA generators). The required search of that list covers the subject property and adjoining properties only, so it need not show a cleaner nearby but not adjoining (E1527-21, 8.2.2, Table 2). A known release is looked for on cleanup lists such as state hazardous waste sites and voluntary cleanup sites. Dry cleaner registries are not standard sources, but a state's registry can be an additional record (E1527-21, 8.2.2, 8.2.4): see Texas, which registers drop stations as well as plants, and Florida.
• The agency file. The file for a listed adjoining property should be reviewed, to learn what the listing means for the subject property, or the report explains why not (E1527-21, 8.2.3.1). A property across a street or other public thoroughfare still adjoins (E1527-21, 3.2.4; 40 CFR 312.10). Each listed site within the search distance gets the professional's judgment on its significance (E1527-21, 8.1.10).
• Setting, site visit and interviews. Groundwater, geology and soil maps are sought when migration to the subject property is likely and local practice is to obtain them (E1527-21, 8.2.1). Adjoining properties are observed from the subject property and public thoroughfares (E1527-21, 9.2.5). Owners and occupants are asked about adjoining uses (E1527-21, 10.2).

What the federal rule says

Among what the inquiry must seek to identify:

Properties adjoining or located nearby the subject property that have environmental conditions that could have resulted in conditions indicative of releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances to the subject property.

40 CFR 312.20(e)(1)(vii)

How it is written up

A cleaner the research identifies goes in the history (E1527-21, 8.3.9, 8.3.10). It becomes a finding when the professional judges it may indicate presence or likely presence at the subject property, and the opinion reasons for or against calling it a REC (E1527-21, 12.5, 12.6).

Where the professional concludes the cleaner's contaminants are present or likely present at the subject property, the opinion names the release, or why one is likely, then why it likely arrived: position, gradient, soils, file data. Unless judged a de minimis condition or a historical REC, the REC is listed in the Conclusions, and the professional should give an opinion on additional investigation (E1527-21, 3.2.20, 3.2.39, 12.7, 12.8).

Where the professional concludes otherwise, the opinion gives its reasoning on the same four facts (E1527-21, 12.6).

Directory or fire insurance map coverage of an adjoining cleaner's years of operation may be what cannot be had. Required information that good faith efforts could not obtain is a data gap, significant if it affects the ability to identify a REC: named in the Findings with the sources consulted, discussed in the Opinions and listed in the Conclusions (E1527-21, 3.2.19, 3.2.78, 12.5.1, 12.6.2, 12.7).

Related

• REC, CREC, HREC or de minimis condition
• Likely release and likely presence
• Adjoining or nearby property
• Vapor in a Phase I
• Agency file review
• Data gap or significant data gap
• What is a data gap?
• State dry cleaner cleanup records: Texas, Florida

This page is general reference for environmental professionals. It does not classify any property. ASTM E1527-21 is the standard and is not reproduced here; the judgment of the environmental professional on the facts governs.