Up in the Air: The Evaporating Confidence of New York Property Owners

Imagine arriving home from work and rifling through your mail, sorting through bills, coupons, and advertisements, and coming across a speeding ticket from 2012. You examine it, confused, and remember that you paid a fine and figured the whole affair was over. You never heard another word about it. Now, you are being re-summoned to court for further investigation … and the summons informs you that the investigation can continue to be reopened at any time for the foreseeable future. Can you ever relax?

While it seems absurd, New York property owners are finding themselves in similar situations these days. In recent decades, vapor intrusion has become an emerging area of interest to environmentalists, regulators, site remediation specialists, and even homeowners as the public’s understanding of its health effects grows. In New York, recent changes in environmental guidelines and practices have led to the reopening of previously closed environmental spill sites to further investigate the presence of volatile organic compounds that have infiltrated existing structures. Sites that have been reopened in recent years have been mired in detailed investigation, public scrutiny, and confusion amongst ever-changing regulatory policies, stymying owners’ attempts to recoup the value of their property for the foreseeable future. Reopening of closed sites has led to headaches amongst property owners, causing many to wonder if they will have to worry about litigation and other major expenses, years or even decades after the sites were first deemed safe.