Environmental Enlightenment #109

By Ami Adini - Reissued August 7, 2015

This is a SHORT, LIGHT and SIMPLE newsletter. Its purpose is to rekindle in the initiated terminology they have once learned, and enlighten the uninitiated on terms they may have heard but never known the meaning of.

Probabilities and Possibilities in the Phase One
Environmental Site Assessment

A probable event is an event that is likely to happen or likely to have happened.

Probability is a scale of certainty: How probable is it that an undeveloped piece of land will be contaminated with petroleum products? Quite improbable.

A possible event is an event that has or had the ability to happen. Is it possible for the soil in the above site to be contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons? Of course it is. Spill a tank of gasoline on the open land and it will readily soak in.

Probability is a scale. Possibility is yes or no. How possible is it for a cat to fly a plane?

While it is possible for a piece of land to be contaminated, the questions remains as to how probable it is.

In Phase I environmental site assessments we deal with probabilities. We research records and inspect the site to arrive at an estimation of the probability for environmental infliction to have happened.


Where we judge the probability to be beyond a certain feeling of comfort, we move into Phase II, sampling of the soil and/or groundwater, to better ascertain that probability.


Because there are no absolutes, and because economics never justify sampling every inch of surface or depth, a degree of probability will always remain and enter our conclusions.

You can find past issues of our  "Environmental Enlightenment" at www.amiadini.com: Wealth of information about environmental site assessments in the real estate transactions and issues concerning assessment and cleanup of contamination in the subsurface soil and groundwater.

Call me if you have any questions. There are no obligations.

Ami Adini
Ami Adini & Associates, Inc.
Environmental Consultants
Underground Storage Tank Experts
818-824-8102; 818-824-8112 fax

Ami Adini is a mechanical engineer, California Registered Environmental Assessor, Level II (Exp.), and president of AMI ADINI & ASSOCIATES, INC. (AA&A), an environmental consulting firm specializing in all phases of environmental site assessments and rehabilitation of contaminated sites. AA&A specializes in practical solutions to environmental concerns using the highest standards of ethics and integrity while providing its clients with maximum return on their investments.