Imagine the state of Florida paying you to monitor the ground water on your petroleum-impacted properties!
It has been over twenty years since the State of Florida initiated the underground storage tank clean-up program. Sites with leaking underground storage tanks were evaluated and received a ranking from 1 to 100. State and federal money has been available to pay for the remediation of contaminated sites. The higher the number the more immediate the health hazard and the initiation of the site clean-up. There are hundreds of sites with scores less than 30 that have not been evaluated or remediated for over twenty years. It is very possible that some of these lower ranking sites are no longer contaminated to the extent that is a threat to human health or the environment.
The state of Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has initiated a program called “Low Score Site Initiative” or LSSI for sites ranked below 30. The DEP has available $10 million a year on a first-come first-serve basis for up to $30,000.00 per site with six months of groundwater monitoring. Last year $6.9 million was spent on this program and $3.2 million so far this year. There is a ten-site per Responsible Party (RP) limit per year. The benefit of this program for owners or RP is that many of these low ranking sites may no longer be contaminated to the extent they were twenty years ago. This is an opportunity for you to update the status and marketability of your property.
There are three different potential outcomes that can be determined through the LSSI program: (1) Complete Site Rehabilitation Completion Order (SRCO) – no evidence of contamination was identified during the investigation, (2) LSSI No Further Action Order (NFA) – minimal contamination was detected, but the contamination plume is found to be either stable or shrinking and the plume is not a threat to human health or the environment. The contamination must be confined to the site and less than 1/4 acre in size; the contamination concentrations should not exceed the monitoring only guidelines; and excessively contaminated soils cannot be identified above the water table, (3) LSSI NFA with conditions (NFAC)-minimal contamination was detected as described above, but the top two feet of soil is contaminated. Under this designation, the RP might have to implement institutional or engineering controls at their expense.
The main benefit of this program is the RP can choose at any time to withdraw from the LSSI program and have the site placed back on the pre-approved/existing ranking for future funding of the remediation. There would be no cost to the RP until you accept one of the three options. There might be a small deductible payment depending upon which program you are enrolled. The LSSI program will allow you to gather valuable current information regarding the condition of the site with little or no cost to you. Take advantage of the LSSI funds available to assess your site.
Let the professionals with Clementi Environmental Consulting review the information you have for your contaminated sites to advise the best course of action for you.
