It is human nature to want the kick-the-can-down road when groundwater corruption has been found! But the real price of doing nothing is much higher than the cost to fix.
Property Value Devastation
Properties affected with contamination can suffer reduction of value at 10-25% overnight simply on word getting out. This causes buyers to either walk away completely or demand steep discounts in the purchase price to cover clean-up costs and potential liability risks.
Legal Liability Escalation
Contamination rarely stays contained. Liability does not end at the property line, as plumes migrate into adjacent properties resulting in costly legal disputes. Landlords are sued by neighbours whose properties have been contaminated, municipal water suppliers and regulatory agencies who want money for damages and to pay for cleanups.
Regulatory Penalties Compound
Delayed action incurs ever-increasing fines from environmental agencies. The fines start with the manageable violation and can then escalate quickly into six figure penalties. Regulatory orders only become more strict with time, often resulting in remediation methods that you could have handled for far less had it been tackled early on. For Groundwater Remediation, visit https://soilfix.co.uk/services/groundwater-remediation/
Insurance Complications
Insurance companies could argue that pollution was gradual and thus is not covered by their policies – especially when owners knew about contamination but failed to act. If you wait too long to report, coverage can be entirely denied, and the property owner would then owe everything out of pocket.
Health Risk Exposure
Continual exposure to the contaminated groundwater opens up potential liabilities for personal injury claims from employees, tenants or neighbours.
The Spreading Problem
Contamination does not get better and go away on its own, It only gets worse. The bigger the plume, more expensive treatment systems will be needed to handle them and longer remediation timeframes.