Based on the bottom paragraphs and table, Would you be comfortable taking on any work package if it were assigned to you, assuming you had appropriate technical expertise? Why or why not? Its fine if youre not, even for the best-prepared WBS. Understanding the reasons why work packages are not clearly defined can help the PM when identifying missing tasks, clarifying the work package, or assigning work.

Is there an approach used by other experts that particularly appeals to you, and why?

The complexity of conducting an on-site inspection to determine and detect the likely presence of contamination as well as knowing the right questions to ask interviewees requires an experienced environmental professional. The level of detail would be vastly different in WBS as a newly hired individual may not have the breadth of knowledge to understand these complexities. I would not trust a newly hired person unless they were adequately supervised by an experienced individual.

I think each WBS work package would have multiple milestones. For example, each interview with the current owner, prior owner, operators, and occupants could be seen as a separate milestone. Each of the packages could be seen as separate mini-projects because each requires slightly different experience and specialization such as finance or records research. The current WBS is only 3 levels down so I would hesitate to create full estimates of time and cost at this level as more tasks/milestones may be uncovered by adding a few more layers and these undlying tasks could result in significant more time to complete and cost. I utilized excel for the WBS, but there are many types software applications that could be used such as a list function in PowerPoint or outline feature in MS Word would work as well. Dependencies were hard to determine as Im not certain if dependencies should only be noted if there are cross-work package dependencies and/or if it should be noted within a work package (e.g., should it be assumed that 1.2 is dependent on 1.1 for completion?).