Environmental Databases: Essential Research Before Buying Property
When purchasing a piece of property, it is important to be aware of any environmental liabilities associated with it. For example, you should find out if there are any:
- registered underground tanks within several miles of the property,
- known contaminated properties in the neighborhood, or
- property owners who have been fined by the government for failing to meet environmental safety standards.
Online Tools for Environmental Due Diligence
Before, it took a costly site investigation to acquire this type of information, but now there are online environmental databases available at a fraction of the cost. Anyone can access reports on otherwise hard to detect environmental issues. With these databases, it is possible to obtain a list of hazards near a property, or spills and violations attributed to businesses nearby.
Some reputable databases include:
Some reputable databases include:
-
VISTA Information Systems, located in San Diego, California, which allows you to register and search the data bank for free, and
-
E Data Resources, which is located in Southport, Connecticut.
These services are all relatively inexpensive, but can provide you with priceless information that is useful before you make a purchase.
