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If you own commercial property in New Jersey, it is likely that (at some point) you will receive a request from an environmental consultant representing an adjacent property owner to access your property to take samples. I caution my clients to never casually agree to permit this type of access. Instead, you must negotiate and execute an Access Agreement to protect your property and to limit the testing and other site activities that will be conducted on your property. While you can’t prevent such testing from ultimately happening, you can limit the scope of the testing. You need the Access Agreement to, among other things: define the limits (including days of the week and time of the day) and the scope of the testing, ensure that proper insurance is in place to cover any damage to your property, limit any interference with your use of your own property (who would like, for example, their driveway or loading dock to be inaccessible for a day or two while the testing is being conducted?), receive the results of the testing and any reports generated from these samples, and obtain split samples. You should also request that your own environmental consultant be present while this work is being conducted.
Should you receive a request to access your property for testing, it is suggested that you seek the counsel of an environmental attorney ASAP.
