Multi-Source Cost Allocation Litigation For Contaminated Sediments

Client: Martin & Brown, Attorney???s for a Confidential Chemical Manufacturer

Summary: Cardno ENTRIX provided expert consulting for the mediation phase of cost allocation litigation at a multi-user waterway in the Pacific Northwest. The waterway was contaminated with a variety of chemicals such as PCBs, PAHs, chlorinated pesticides, arsenic, copper, lead, zinc, and alkylated tins. Each chemical required an evaluation of source, transport, and fate issues in a complex environment where resuspension and currents had redistributed contaminants from their original locations, including from areas that were subsequently dredged.

Highlights: Cardno ENTRIX combined visual and statistical fingerprinting techniques with analysis of GIS-supported aerial and depth distributions of chemicals and facility operational profiles to develop a defensible basis for showing multisource contributions to sediments adjacent to the client's facility. This analysis was used as part of negotiations to keep another private party involved as a significant contributor and to critique and reallocate costs from an initial analysis performed by a group consultant.