Buying a house next to a contaminated gas station (disclosure, agent, fees)

[beachouse]

Anyone have any info on buying a house next to a contaminated gas station in NJ ?

According to the DEP the site is still in remediation.

I imagine for the gas station once you have a NFA letter you would be OK , but what about a neighboring property ?

So far I have thought of having soil tests and have found out you can buy pollution insurance.
Never had a huge trust in insurance companies though as far as coming up with legal ways to get out of paying a claim.

Any input would be appreciated.

[Rakin]

LUST - Leaking Underground Storage Tanks

I would probably not buy the house personally. Possible that the soil has lead not only from the tanks but also on the surface from all the cars worked on, chemicals spilled & lead fuels spilled on the surface.

Why take the risk ?

[JustJoy]

Originally Posted by Rakin

LUST - Leaking Underground Storage Tanks

I would probably not buy the house personally. Possible that the soil has lead not only from the tanks but also on the surface from all the cars worked on, chemicals spilled & lead fuels spilled on the surface.

Why take the risk ?

Ditto here - that stuff soaks all the way into the soil and spreads so IMO I'd pass. Like Rakin said, why take the risk? It's not like it's a strong seller's market out there, so you shouldn't have a problem finding a house where you don't have to deal with these issues.

[beachouse]

It's a house in a business zone with parking which is hard to come by.

But I agree about passing on it ,too many potential and real problems.

[Ohiogirl81]

I wouldn't want a house next to a gas station, contaminated or not.

[opensourcesam]

I personally would not even remotely consider purchasing a home site that could be subject to a any significant pollution. Why? The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) holds strict liability with regards to clean up. Consult with a well qualified attorney (who understands environmental liability). If you buy this property you could be committing to clean up costs even if you sell it later. It becomes an in perpetuity circumstance of liability. If contamination is found on your site you may not be liable for clean up costs, as the gas station owners (all of them-even previous owners) would be required to assist in costs, but this would potentially cost you in legal fees not to mention the added headache. I recommend extreme caution with this action.

CERCLA Overview | Superfund | US EPA

Consider the following:
You buy pollution insurance.
Implications: you would be required to disclose to future buyers (depending upon your state real estate laws for disclosure)
They could discover this by requesting a CLUE report or having an insurance agent research the property.
I am not saying to not buy pollution insurance or not, just making you aware that this could be used against you in the future if you sell the property and failed to disclose a potential material defect (consult a well qualified real estate attorney on that point).

[Rakin]

Yeah, what he just said and besides it would be heck to resale.