Location: Hastings, Michigan

Performing the due diligence process on the site of a known environmental impact can get complicated, especially when the business that occupies the site needs to stay in operation. Flexibility is the key. Take this project for example:

A bankrupt but operating industrial press manufacturer was placed up for sale. The ideal transaction was to include the real estate as well as the operating business as parts of the sales package.

However, this ideal transaction was complicated because the site was a known site of environmental impact (i.e. listed Part 201 site) and the purchaser was a risk-averse foreign company that was not familiar with Michigan’s specific environmental due diligence process.

In concert with legal counsel, BLDI guided the potential purchaser through the Michigan due diligence process in a phased approach. All of the due diligence tasks were consistent with the scope of work that was originally presented to the client by BLDI.

After multiple iterations of the Baseline Environmental Assessment (BEA) and Section 7a Due Care Plan documents, necessitated by multiple reviews by the sellers legal counsel, the BEA and Section 7a documents were delivered to MDEQ for determination of adequacy prior to the closing of the transaction.

With the addition of only minor supplemental information, the Category N and S BEAs and their respective Section 7a Due Care Plans were rapidly affirmed by MDEQ.

BLDI was able to achieve this affirmation, in part, because it took the novel approach of segregating the subject property into a Category N and a Category S Area. In addition, the BEAs contained detailed descriptions of the proposed engineering controls and barriers that were to be installed to separate the existing contamination from potential “new” contamination.

The transaction closed within days of receiving affirmation of the BEAs. Upon closing the transaction, the purchaser had 45 days to complete the installation of the engineering controls and barriers. Installation of the engineering controls and barriers commenced on the same day that the transaction was closed. The engineering controls consisting of an epoxy flooring system, epoxy pit lining, fencing, asphalt paving, and building barriers were all installed according to specifications and bid documents that had been developed by BLDI.

The installation of the engineering controls and barriers were complicated by the purchaser mandated requirement that the plant “shall remain” in production during this period.

Due to BLDI’s foresight and planning, the 130,000-square foot plant area continued to operate during the installation of all of the engineering controls and barriers. Over 50 machines, some weighing up to 80 tons apiece, were removed from the plant. The pits that contained the machines were cleaned and sealed according to procedures presented in the affirmed BEAs. The machines were then reinstalled in the plant. The entire 130,000-square foot floor production area was sealed with a one-quarter inch thick epoxy coating.

BLDI coordinated, monitored, oversaw, and inspected crews who worked continuously over the 45 day BEA window to complete the installation of the engineering controls and barriers. The installation of all of the engineering controls and barriers was completed on Day 44 at 12:00 noon.

All of this had been completed while the plant remained in operation!