Consumer products, Manufacturing, Printing and publishing, Canada Environmental Due Diligence Assessment for the Acquisition of a Plastic Packaging Manufacturing Facility

Summary

EEM contributed environmental expertise to the due diligence process used by the purchasing group to ensure environmental risks were identified and weighed prior to the closing of the transaction

Approach and Solution

EEM’s assessment was conducted in general accordance with the principles outlined in the CSAZ768-01 standard for Phase I Environmental Site Assessment and in close collaboration with the purchaser’s Corporate Environmental Coordinator.

Since the operations being acquired were located on leased land shared with other operators, the first step was to establish the boundaries of the property to be assessed. EEM’s team then conducted a desktop investigation of the property using public information about the property obtained predominantly through the services of ERIS. A site visit was completed to observe the current operations and any signs of past activity of concern, both at the property and at the neighbouring sites. Discreet interviews were also conducted and the site representative was able to provide further detail on pollution control equipment and correspondence with the local government agencies.

EEM’s assessment looked not only at the potential for environmental contamination of the soil, typically the focus of Phase I Assessment, but also summarily reviewed compliance of the operations to regulatory requirements. It highlighted the potential need for pollution prevention equipment with large capital costs and estimated operational costs for the destruction of volatile organic compound emissions. Interestingly, this was the first due diligence assessment conducted by EEM to incorporate rough estimates for the cost of carbon emissions.

Results

EEM was able to visit the site and provide preliminary findings in a timely manner for the closing of the transaction, followed by a full report that provides baseline environmental information for on-going management.