What are the obligations of and risks to a charity that receives potentially contaminated property as a gift? This is not a new issue, but some recent conversations suggest that a review may be in order.

But first I digress to address practical concerns. Many charities or nonprofit organizations have as their very purpose receipt of or control over risky real estate. Many community gardens, for example, seek to green up vacant lots. Some of those lots have a residential former use, but others have commercial or industrial histories. More importantly, most have histories of being vacant. They have been the sites of what may just have been littering, but may also have been the disposal of materials that count as hazardous substances, from old crankcase oil to old tires to waste industrial chemicals.

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