There’s an Intruder at Your Project – Vapor Intrusion: How it Can Affect Your Real Estate Development Kevin Margolis, Partner* Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff, LLP 200 Public Square, Suite 2300 Cleveland, Ohio 44114
[email protected] Over roughly the past decade, vapor intrusion has gone from an underappreciated and sometimes discounted environmental issue in environmental investigations to a “top-of-mind” and serious issue that often drives buyer’s, seller’s, tenant’s and lender’s focus when evaluating whether potential environmental issues are going to slow down or even stop your real estate project in its tracks. In this article we will explain what vapor intrusion is, how it is viewed by federal and state regulators, and how it comes into play in the real world of real estate development and transactions. I. VAPOR INTRUSION – WHAT IS IT? Vapor Intrusion (“VI”) is the general term given to migration of hazardous vapors from any subsurface vapor sources, such as contaminated soil or groundwater, through the soil and into an overlying building or structure.1 Volatile chemicals in soil or groundwater can emit vapors that may then migrate through subsurface soils and into indoor air spaces of overlying buildings in ways similar to that of radon gas seeping into homes. Volatile chemicals may include volatile organic compounds (“VOCs”), select semi-volatile organic compounds (“SVOCs”), and some inorganic compounds such as elemental mercury. Often, these vapors cannot be entirely eliminated and then the main concern is whether remaining low concentrations of these contaminants pose an unacceptable risk of chronic health effects due to long-term exposure to building occupants.