Litigation Support Services
Expert Testimony Pays Off: Client Doesn’t Have To Pay a Cent - PMC – Chicago, Illinois
Using extensive technical research, site analysis and evaluation, The Forrester Group presented expert testimony at trial in support of the Plaintiff’s (PMC, Inc.) position that the Defendant (Sherwin-Williams Company) was responsible for the contamination in question.
Judge Plunkett of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled Sherwin-Williams should pay all future remediation costs at the PMC site, all attorney fees, and a portion of PMC’s past response costs. The court Memorandum Opinion and Order contained the following reference: “Based in large part upon the testimony of PMC’s Ray Forrester, whose testimony was the most persuasive and credible of the expert witnesses,…we conclude that Sherwin-Williams should be allocated 100 percent of the costs associated with Occurrence #9, and we declare that it shall be solely responsible for all future remediation cost at the PMC Facility.” Although the current owner, PMC, had also spilled hazardous substances on the property, the cost allocation was justified by the presence of leachable lead and other metals present in concentrations above the applicable cleanup objectives, for which Sherwin-Williams was determined to be completely responsible.
Assessment Proves Client Had No Measurable Effect on Property - IMC Fertilizer – Spartanburg, South Carolina
Our client, IMC, was involved in a class action suit in which plaintiffs alleged that operations from the IMC fertilizer plant had caused health issues and property damage. The soil sampling/analyses and site research that we performed demonstrated that the IMC fertilizer plant operation had not had a measurable effect on their property. Further, we demonstrated that the household chemicals in the homes of the plaintiffs and the associated living conditions were the potential cause of the plaintiffs’ complaints. Based on the strength of the resulting expert report that we prepared for our clients, the case was settled for less than the cost of continued litigation, meeting the objectives of our clients.
Cost Analysis Reduced PRP Liability from $26M to $2M - Cal Compact Landfill – Carson, California
The Forrester Group provided a cost analysis that defended our industrial clients against the Plaintiffs’ claims seeking contribution toward the $26 million investigation and remediation costs at the 157-acre Cal Compact Landfill site in Carson, California. The groundwater and soil at the site were contaminated with hazardous substances, including benzene, toluene, xylene, phenol, lead, bromium, nickel, naphthalene, dichlorodifluoromethane, and vinyl chloride.
The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) issued a Remedial Action Order to entities identified as potentially responsible parties (PRPs), requiring them to fund a $26 million escrow account to conduct remedial action. Subsequently, the owners/developers initiated a complaint against more than 25 industrial firms known to have used the landfill during its operation. The developers were seeking to hold these companies responsible for a substantial portion of the past and future site cleanup costs.
The Forrester Group was engaged to provide an opinion quantifying the extent to which the costs claimed by the site owners were consistent with the National Contingency Plan (NCP) and, therefore, recoverable. The Forrester Group conducted a comprehensive review of invoices that formed the basis of the claim the Defendants were being requested to pay. Our analysis demonstrated that more than 75 percent of the costs claimed by Plaintiffs were actually related to site development and were not responses to contamination. We also researched the types of waste streams contributed to the landfill by multiple PRPs and found that hazardous wastes contributed by Defendants were insignificant in the context of the municipal landfill as a whole. As a result of our analyses, the settlement paid by the Defendants to the Plaintiffs was limited to less than $2 million.
Millions of Dollars Saved by Demonstrating Client Activities Were Not Driving Costs - Hollywood Dump – Memphis, Tennessee
The Forrester Group conducted a critical review of remedial investigation activities and research regarding levels and remediation of contaminants at an abandoned municipal landfill in Memphis, Tennessee. Through assessment of the site data and the cleanup objectives of the state agency, The Forrester Group was able to show the chemicals driving the remedy were not the chemicals our clients had disposed. The Forrester Group was also successful in demonstrating the issues were distinct and not commingled. These findings and the supporting evidence were sufficient to force the case to a very favorable settlement; saving the clients millions of dollars.
Historical Operations and Chemical Migration Route Analysis Reduced Client Liability by 94 Percent - Wood-Treating Facility Superfund Site – Slidell, Louisiana
The Forrester Group developed a defense to absolve our client of any liability for environmental conditions at The Bayou Bonfouca Superfund Site, a wood-treating facility. At this site, located on a tributary of Lake Pontchatrain, a catastrophic fire at the facility contaminated soils, shallow groundwater, and the sediments of Bayou Bonfouca with creosote, Pentachlorophenyl (PCP), and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH). Our client, a railroad operator, had owned the facility for only a couple of years in the late 1800s.
The Forrester Group conducted historical research regarding creosote processing, the extent of Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (DNAPL) and contaminated groundwater, and chemical migration routes. We determined which portions of remedial costs were caused by releases from certain operations in specified eras of the site’s history. This work required analysis of project costs; remediation specifications; remediation as-built construction drawings; contaminant nature, extent, and distribution data; and contaminant fate and transport processes. After demonstrating nominal contribution due to the limited nature and age of their operations, the client settled the case for approximately 6 percent of the amount expended by USEPA for remedial actions, saving potential liability for 100 percent of the EPA’s costs and trial costs. The Forrester Group also assembled and managed the entire group of experts on behalf of trial counsel.
Environmental Assessment Determines Property Valuation for PRPs - Cottman Avenue Superfund Site – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
In an effort to settle a portion of the liability for a multi-million dollar Superfund cleanup in Philadelphia, a group of utility company PRPs needed to determine the true value of a trust, which a settling party was offering. This trust comprised six properties owned by the settling party, who was the owner/operator of the former treatment, storage, and disposal area at the site.
Through our investigative efforts, we determined that all but one of the six properties had environmental issues well in excess of the unencumbered value. The remaining property was of negligible value, even though it did not have environmental issues. This assessment and documentation of the findings caused the settling party to drop its tactic and pursue a financially-sound course of settlement.
As part of determining the value of the trust, The Forrester Group completed the following: