Environmental Forensics

Environmental forensics is a discipline for reconstructing contaminant discharge events in a scientifically defensible manner. Our forensic services are particularly useful for identifying unknown contaminants, estimating contaminant discharge ages, and source discrimination and often requested for litigation support and to determine insurance coverage applicability. Peak’s experts conduct forensic investigations using a variety of technical approaches, including:

• • Developing contaminant discharge age-dating and source determination methods.
  • Applying specialized isotopic tools in the environmental industry to accomplish project goals.
  • Establishing laboratory analytical procedures for environmental forensic cases.
  • Interpreting the supporting laboratory data that is seldom reviewed – technical details that qualify data and provide a wealth of additional information to experts capable of deciphering it.
  • Integrating forensic and expert testimony services.

Peak applies forensic tools, including those listed below, to characterize contaminants and provide data and information supporting the resolution of disputes associated with insurance claims, litigation, and regulatory compliance.

• • Chemical fingerprinting: Used for identifying petroleum and solvent types.
  • Biomarkers: Used for identifying fuel types and discharge ages.
  • Compound-Specific Isotope Analysis (CSIA): Used for age dating, contaminant source discrimination (e.g., commingled discharges of the same contaminant by different parties), groundwater flow dynamics, and plume origins.
  • Fate and transport modeling, hydrogeological investigations, reconstruction of Site operational histories, source origin and discharge age estimates.

Peak’s technical staff includes experts in geochemistry, hydrogeology, isotope chemistry, and geology.