Everyone’s risk posture is different. Our Phase I environmental site assessments (ESA) need to accommodate for the degrees of difference, and make it possible for the risk adverse to decide to be cautious based on our opinions, or the “gung ho” to file away our opinions and move forward without holding back. It’s also important come down squarely on a side, and that’s often more effectively done with a well developed case, building on solid assessment techniques. Environmental assessments are objectively subjective or subjectively objective. We are not reading chemical test results and rendering out opinions, but facts and bits of data from all over the map. Environmental assessment is an art, not a science, most frequently performed by scientists.