- QUESTION: What can I do to protect myself when acquiring contaminated property in Pennsylvania?
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QUESTION: What can I do to protect myself when acquiring contaminated property in Pennsylvania?
ANSWER: Under Pennsylvania law, a person acquiring property in Pennsylvania with knowledge of existing contamination may be subject to liability and an enforcement action by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) to clean up the contamination even though the person is not a contributor to the contamination. Such a person, however, can protect themselves from liability for the cleanup by entering into a Buyer/Seller Agreement.
A Buyer/Seller Agreement is a three party agreement between the buyer, seller and PADEP, which is generally referred to as a consent order and agreement. Under this agreement, the seller and buyer are obligated to perform certain functions (one of which is to remediate the contamination - generally performed by seller). In exchange, PADEP agrees to refrain from bringing an enforcement action against buyer for the cleanup of the contamination as long as the buyer does not breach any of its obligations under the Buyer/Seller Agreement.
