engineering and environmental forensics: tank-specific...

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Engineering and Environmental Forensics:

Tank-Specific Methods

About BLDI, Inc.BLDI was established in 1991 to focus on providing environmental services within the legal and financial community. We believe that data should be collected with a pre-determined goal with the pro’s and con’s of collecting identified prior to developing a work plan. That protocol has been continually emphasized during over 20 years of environmental due diligence and forensic work for cases, including work from Michigan to Ohio, Kentucky, New York, California, the Dakota’s and Texas.

“Our work is only valuable to the extent our client can benefit.” Joe Berlin, PE, CP (Ohio) BLDI President

Our understanding of the principles of environmental risk management, investigation, remediation and the necessary supporting data is often used in risk mitigation/transfer, insurance underwriting, claims, quantification, source and origin and closure verification.

Mr. Berlin started his career in The Boeing Company Test Lab conducting various types of testing on aerospace products under the tightest of testing protocols and security clearances. Mr. Berlin was retained for a multi-year project to deconstruct multiple gas stations to document failure mechanisms for a large court case. is a professional engineers in several states, Ohio VAP CP and member of serval professional organizations, including National Academy of Forensic Engineers. Mr. Berlin is supported by a team of environmental professionals, including professional engineers, geologists and chemists.

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Forensic Engineering v. Environmental Forensics

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Forensic Engineering “...is defined as; —the application of the art and science of engineering in matters which are in, or may possibly relate to, the jurisprudence system, inclusive of alternative dispute resolution.”*

- National Academy of Forensic Engineers

Environmental Forensics is…“a combination of analytical and environmental chemistry, which is useful in the court room context. It therefore involves field analytical studies and both data interpretation and modelling connected with the attribution of pollution events to their causes.”

- Royal Society of Chemistry

Use of Forensics

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• Baselining• Underwriting• Quantification/Allocation/Subrogation• Source and Origin• Remediation Validation• Failure Analysis• Escrows/Reserves• Closure • E&O

National Tanks Conference 2015

1. Topic Intro2. Forensics

Basics3. Case-Intro4. Case-Basics5. Case-Details6. Baselining

Investigation Approach1. Startup: stakeholders, issues, background (Daubert)

2. Gather background data

3. Identify and refine the Scientific Question(s)

4. Plan data collection

5. Undertake data collection

6. Data reduction, weight-of-the-evidence

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Ratio/Trend Analysis

Isotopic




PIANO Plot

Data Sources

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• Historical Sources • Prior Reports• Focused Investigations• Current/historical industry or

manufacturer guidance, specifications and standards

• Laboratory-old/new




Toolbox

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• Archaeological excavation• Physical data/testing• Component failure analysis

(CFA)• Tank system dissection• Chemical use/availability• Selective Lab Methods• Degradation models• Statistical models• Isotopic Analysis




Component Failure Analysis (CFA)

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Analytical Data

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• Heterogeneity• Physical data• USEPA/ASTM Methods• Chromatograms• Simple ratio analysis• PIANO & similar• Isotopic• Trends • PCA• Error




Lets Take a Look at a Case

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MW-1

MW-3MW-4N

Basic Site Data

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• Developed in 1950s as gas station• Tanks:

• Set #1: 1950s to 1986• Set #2: 2000 to current• Release reported 2000

• Depth to GW: 32 feet• GW Flow: NNW• What question(s) are we trying to answer?• Is there a new release?• Can we “baseline” the “old” impact going

forward?




Define and Refine “The Question”

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Original “Questions”

• Can we Baseline without triggering a new release simply based on “old” data?

• How does Baselining affect Lending, Insurance or Claim?

Refined Question

“How can we baseline, segregate or fingerprint data to demonstrate, today and in the future, old v. new impact?”




Component Failure Analysis (CFA)

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• Inventory Current UST system• USTs: tightness testing, line testing,

secondary containment test • Sumps• Dispenser containment• Tank ports

• Constructed materials: concrete, curbing, spill mitigation

Conceptual Site Model

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Simple Ratio Analysis

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0.10 0.06

0

0.14

0

0.480.55

0.43

0

0.24

-

1.11

0.44

0.34

-

0.16

-

0.94

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

MW-1 2001 MW-1 2015 MW-3 2001 MW-3 2015 MW-4 2001 MW-4 2015

Simple Ratio Analysis Comparing 2001 to 2015 Data

(B/X)

(B+T)/(E+X)

(B+T)/(E+X+TMBs)

NA

Notes:1. Only benzene detected in MW-3 in 2001.2. MW-4 installed in 2015.3. Understand assumptions.

Lets Now Look at PIANO

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• What does the BIG picture tell us?• Are there important compounds/ratios?• It depends. What are we looking for?• New release? • Do we understand the “real” output from

the lab? What issues might there be?




PIANO Plot

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Additional Ratio Analysis

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0.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.006.63

2.33

5.93

Rat

io R

esu

lt

Monitoring Wells

1,4-Dimethyl-2-ethylbenzene/ 1,2-Dimethyl-4-ethylbenzene

MW-1

MW-3

MW-4N

0.00

1.00

2.00

3.00

0.85

2.45

1.09

Rat

io R

esu

lt

Monitoring Wells

1-Methyl-2-ethylbenzene/ 1,2,3-Trimethylbenzene

MW-1

MW-3

MW-4N

1.70

1.80

1.90

2.00

2.10

2.20

2.18

1.991.92

Rat

io R

esu

lt

Monitoring Wells

1-Methyl-3-ethylbenzene/ 1-Methyl-4-ethylbenzene

MW-1

MW-3

MW-4N

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.37

0.22

0.36

(Rat

io R

esu

lts

Monitoring Wells

1,3,5-Trimethylbenzene/ 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene

MW-1

MW-3

MW-4N

Notes:1. 3,4,5 carbon groups paired with similar solubility2. Understand assumptions

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0

33.642.06 40.2

66.02

02.66 2.54 2.14 4.1 5.720

57.63

164.95

75.37 72.87

20.37 20.96

-10

10

30

50

70

90

110

130

150

170

Co

nc

(μg/

kg)

Lighter End Gas Analysis(by Method 8260)

MW-1

MW-3

MW-4N

Assessment of light ends of PIANO.

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Isotopic Plots (CSIA)

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-28.61-28.1 -28.28 -28.34 -28.19-28.54-27.6

-28.62-27.56 -27.36

-40

-35

-30

-25

-20

-15

-10

Benzene Toluene Ethylbenzene m+p-Xylene o-Xylene

δ2

13 C

Isotopic Analysis - δ13C (CSIA)

MW-1

MW-4N

What does Weight-of-the-Evidence

tell us?

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• CFA: no evidence of new release.

• Basic ratios: no definitive inference of new release

• PIANO: results provide a lot of data but some may infer potentially contradictory conclusions. Why?

• Isotopic: no indicator of new release.

Final Conclusion

• Second part of data program can resolve questions

• It all boils down to the Question and CSM

• Multiple lines of evidence here tell us what?

• There is no cookbook

Baselining Guidance

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Michigan

• Has Baseline Environmental Assessment (BEA) place

since 1995

• Historically, focus on segregation/engineering controls

Arizona (in development)

• Focus on process, multiple lines of evidence

• Use of timeline chemical additives

• Ratio inference

• PIANO as applicable

Other Guidance

• MA: developing some guidance

• ASTM: not specific to Tanks

In Closing

• Legacy issues can be assessed, quantified, segregated and mitigated

• It all boils down to the Question and CSM

• Each site is specific to the Tank System, stakeholders, historic data, and going-forward needs

• Forensic techniques can more completely characterize, baseline,segregate and allocate impact

• Multiple lines of evidence are usually necessary

• Defensible position (Daubert, Frye)

• There is no cookbook

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