Environmental litigation support and expert witness testimony are key components of our consulting services. EWMA's expertise in soil and ground water contamination issues frequently lead to expert witness assignments relating to disputes between parties, insurance claims, and litigation-related expert testimony. Our senior-level principals have been involved in many challenging environmental cases, and have the training and experience to work as part of a litigation team in preparing technical portions of cases. In addition to providing expert testimony, EWMA is experienced in plume dating, determining the source and timing of ground water contamination discharges, and allocating liability among responsible parties.
Some of the Litigation Support and Forensic Services that EWMA provides our clients include:
Expert Witness Testimony
EWMA’s expertise in soil and ground water contamination issues frequently lead to expert witness assignments relating to disputes between parties, insurance claims, and litigation-related expert testimony. Our senior level principals have been involved in many challenging environmental cases and have the training and experience to work as part of a litigation team in preparing technical portions of cases.
As litigation consultants we are highly skilled in making complex environmental science comprehensible. We help judges, attorneys and juries understand the technical aspects of a case and clearly explain the various findings of data. This service has been instrumental in resolving litigation, insurance and refinancing matters.
Forensic Analysis
The types of forensic methodologies available to evaluate and assess the technical merits or validity of a claim or action have greatly expanded over the past ten years. EWMA has incorporated many of these important and cutting edge tools including plume dating. Plume dating is used to determine the source and time of ground water contamination discharges, and aids in allocating liability among responsible parties.
Often litigation support services are needed within short time-frames or on tight deadlines. Fortunately, the depth of EWMA’s resources and our close relations with a number of nationally known and very qualified specialty analytical subcontractors allows us to respond quickly and cost-effectively to almost every type of environmental expert testimony or forensic evaluation need.
Insurance and Claim Support
Joint and several liability provisions and efforts to obtain insurance coverage for the remediation of contaminated sites have become some of the more effective aspects of environmental cost, recovery and litigation. These aspects encourage parties saddled with extensive cleanup problems to pursue former owners, operators, and insurance carriers in an attempt to recoup some of their financial losses. Insurance companies are perhaps the largest target of the growing environmental litigation industry. The critical issue in such litigation is the identification of appropriate parties or sources responsible for pollutants found on contaminated properties. EWMA employs a method called plume dating to identify both the parties responsible for and the time of release of contamination. Plume dating can potentially allow the minimization of liability, and an equitable allocation of remedial expenses.
Plume Dating
EWMA's version of plume dating consists of a unique, multi-faceted approach to dissect the site information and establish the issues critical to contaminant source, fate, and transport. EWMA's approach consists of four main aspects:
1. Chemical "fingerprint" of the contaminant(s) present will identify the type as well as the amount of contaminants present. Then an evaluation of relative ratios of contaminants and presence (or absence) of marker compounds is conducted.
2. Assessment of site-specific geology and hydrogeology and their impacts on contaminant transport;
3. Evaluation of the parameters necessary for microbial degradation mechanisms and their effects, if any, on contaminant profiles and persistence; and
4. Engineering analysis of the site, including corrosion rates, soil permeability and the feasibility and efficiency of remedial actions.
Overall, the combination of these aspects results in an understanding of important biological, physical, and chemical processes on-site that can have an impact on contaminant profiles and mobility. More importantly, the assessment facilitates both spatial and temporal modeling of contaminant transport, allowing a comparison and/or correlation with actual site conditions.
To continually refine our ability to assess fate and transport of chlorinated and petroleum-derived contamination, EWMA draws on extensive practical experience in site remediation. Our personnel conduct research on topical issues in the field, such as contaminant transport in fractured media, as well as maintain a current database of relevant literature and forensic testing labs in the field.
Source Area Forensics
Source Area Forensics combines an extremely thorough, highly developed and methodical approach to understanding and evaluating the most likely contaminant discharge scenarios at a site. It includes:
- Detailed analysis of the site’s physical characteristics and prior subsurface investigation data
- Comprehensive research on historical site operations and surrounding land use
- Use of advanced laboratory analytical techniques to assess pollutant characteristics
- Comparison of contaminants and associated additives to industry first-use timelines
- Reverse particle ground water modeling to age-date contaminant plumes and
- Analysis of “Contamination Stratigraphy” and exposure pathways
How Is Source Area Forensics Used As A Litigation Tool?
- Reduced Settlement Amount—Subsurface soil and ground water contamination near a former process waste lagoon. Reverse particle ground water modeling combined with a specialized understanding of physical characteristics of the affected aquifers demonstrated that the contaminant discharge occurred prior to the start of on-site operations. This allowed the client to settle during trial at a substantially lower amount.
- Settlement without Litigation—Complex ground water contaminant plume migration patterns. Extensive review of historical site investigation work, combined with laboratory hydrocarbon fingerprinting analyses, proved the existence of two separate contaminant plumes with two distinct discharge areas and over two timeframes. Client settled with multiple insurance companies without litigation.
- Client Not Liable—Age-dating subsurface soil and ground water contamination near a degreasing operation. Detailed analysis of Contamination Stratigraphy combined with reverse ground water modeling successfully refuted opposing experts’ opinions on ground water plume distribution. The discharge was age-dated outside the client’s operational period.
- Client Not Liable—Septic system discharges. By re-evaluating subsurface data within the context of site information provided by facility employees, performing reverse ground water modeling, and reviewing information provided by facility employees we determined that contamination took place as a result of prior, unauthorized chemical discharges rather than more recent releases to the on-site septic system. Client successfully recovered soil and ground water remediation costs.
- Client Entitled to Insurance Benefits—Age-dating of buried pipe. Analysis of site investigation data and remedial action findings along with off-site, area-wide bedrock ground water plume information demonstrated that a long-term contaminant discharge had occurred. The case was so compelling that the client’s current and former insurers agreed to provide coverage for the release.
Case History
• Expert Witness/Litigation Support - Gasoline Service Station, West Milford, NJ