Unexpected asbestos finds during civil works can create significant confusion for contractors, developers and site owners, particularly where stakeholders assume that an asbestos clearance certificate “closes out” the issue entirely.

In practice, an asbestos clearance certificate and an asbestos in soil investigation (“ASI”) serve very different purposes.

A recent industrial remediation project undertaken by Land Risk Environmental highlights why understanding this distinction is critical from both a contaminated land and WHS perspective.

Tenant-operated underground petroleum storage systems (UPSS) are common across airports and industrial assets, however environmental liability does not disappear simply because infrastructure is tenant-operated.

LRE recently assisted with advisory services relating to tenant-owned fuel infrastructure at an operational airport, where the review identified common issues including incomplete compliance records, inconsistent monitoring programmes and uncertainty around regulatory responsibilities.

This blog explores the regulatory obligations associated with tenant-operated UPSS infrastructure, the importance of maintaining compliant Fuel System Operation Plans (FSOPs), and the environmental and commercial risks that can emerge where compliance management breaks down over time.

Underground petroleum storage systems (UPSS) are one of the most common contamination risks encountered during industrial redevelopment projects, and often one of the easiest to underestimate.

LRE recently assisted on a Western Sydney redevelopment project involving the removal and validation of multiple legacy UPSS associated with generator and refuelling infrastructure. During excavation works, unexpected contamination was identified within stockpiled materials, requiring rapid reassessment, additional targeted sampling and revised waste classification strategies.

This blog explores how flexible environmental management, staged waste classification, contractor coordination and a robust Unexpected Finds Protocol (UFP) helped manage contamination risk while keeping the redevelopment project moving.

Environmental issues rarely derail property deals on their own — uncertainty, cost escalation and programme delays are usually the real problem.

Based on LRE’s experience undertaking environmental due diligence for commercial, industrial and redevelopment sites, some of the most common deal risks include uncontrolled fill, asbestos in soil, legacy underground petroleum storage systems (UPSS), groundwater contamination and poor-quality environmental reporting.

This blog explores why these issues create significant commercial and development risk, and how early targeted investigations, appropriate due diligence and proactive environmental management can help avoid costly surprises later in the project lifecycle.

When investing in real estate, due diligence is a crucial step in protecting your financial and legal interests. One of the most overlooked but potentially costly aspects of property acquisition is contaminated land and hazardous materials risk. Failure to assess environmental liabilities can lead to unexpected environmental liability, cleanup costs, legal issues, and project delays.

By accepting contaminated waste onto a property, owners or persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) are inadvertently breaking the law and can be left responsible for any clean-up costs. The best way to prevent financial and environmental risk associated with contaminated fill is for it to never reach the property in the first place.