The more the merrier: identifying other PRPs at MGP properties

Johnson, C.G.

Abstract
Although utility companies are considered to be the primary potentially responsible parties (PRP) involved in the remediation of MGP properties, there are often other historic stakeholders who can be identified as PRPs and can legitimately be expected to share responsibility for MGP clean-up and disposition. The ASTM Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) is a systematic, well-defined process by which a comprehensive property history is developed and additional PRPs may be identified. These PRPs may then be responsible for portions of site clean-up, or can potentially interrupt the chain of successor liability that often ties a current utility company to a historic MGP. We will discuss how the Phase I process identifies historic property use and ownership, and examine cases where the historic division of property among several PRPs has affected MGP remediation and redevelopment. In one case, portions of an MGP, closed for 70 years, have since been used as a municipal landfill and as an industrial landfill. In another city, the regulatory agency has permitted remediation of several small portions of an MGP divided among current small property owners, without the involvement of a potential successor utility company.

Key words: ASTM, due diligence, ESA, MGP, Phase I, PRP, Sanborn Map

Land Contamination & Reclamation, 14 (2), 391-397 (2006) 

DOI 10.2462/09670513.715

Updated: 29-Dec-2008