Reducing environmental risk associated with laboratory decommissioning and property transfer

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Laboratory Management
• Risk Assessment

Background:

• Laboratory space adjustments (renovation, demolition, acquisition) present environmental risks from facility issues (e.g., asbestos) or research contamination (e.g., chemical, radioactive).
• Failure to mitigate these risks via decommissioning can lead to significant financial liabilities for future cleanup costs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the importance of environmental due diligence auditing in managing risks associated with laboratory space changes.
• To outline the 4-phase approach of environmental due diligence auditing.

Main Methods:

• The study describes environmental due diligence auditing as a system to assess and reduce environmental risk and financial liability.
• This process involves four phases: historical site assessment, characterization assessment, remedial effort, and final status survey.

Main Results:

• Existing standards from the American Society for Testing and Materials cover the initial two phases of environmental due diligence auditing.
• Currently, no established standards exist for the remedial effort and final status survey phases.

Conclusions:

• The lack of standardized methods for the latter phases of environmental due diligence auditing is a significant weakness, particularly for laboratory decommissioning in the biomedical research industry.
• Developing standards for all four phases is crucial for comprehensive environmental risk management and liability reduction.