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State and federal trustees are pursuing natural resource damage claims
more aggressively than in the past. Natural resource damages are a
corporate environmental liability beyond cleanup or response actions.
Damage claims can be very large, and settlement or litigation costs
correspondingly high.
Although potential liability to industry is great, Exponent can help clients minimize
costs associated with claims for damages to natural resources, while still protecting the
environment. With expertise in ecology, fisheries, toxicology, chemistry, chemical
forensics, geology, hydrology, and environmental engineering, our staff provides a range
of services that includes:
- Reviewing trustee data to determine technical and regulatory credibility of the case
- Independently assessing injuries, estimating damages, and restoration costs
- Developing technical strategies in support of natural resource damage (NRD) claim defense
- CERCLA and Oil Pollution Act (OPA) consulting
- Monitoring trustee sampling and analysis efforts
- Restoration scaling and identifying cost-effective restoration options
- Developing powerful and credible technical negotiating positions
- Independently collecting focused data
- Coordinating economics with science in complex cases
- Providing litigation support
These and other activities have allowed us to successfully support clients at a wide
range of sites involving claims for damages to natural resources. We have been involved
in some of the largest NRD assessment cases in the country, as well as many smaller
cases. Our work has ranged from projects involving focused issues with rapid settlement
to those with difficult technical problems and ongoing legal and regulatory negotiations.
Our experts have provided litigation support, including testimony at trial in three of the largest cases to date: Montana v. Arco, United States v. Asarco et al., United States v. Exxon.
In some cases, industry elects to work with the natural resource trustees in a cooperative
assessment process to control transaction costs. We have played a key role on our
clients’ behalf in cooperative damage assessments. We have spearheaded this approach
at several natural resource damage sites, leading industry’s technical efforts and supporting
the regulatory interface.
 Use of Habitat Equivalency Analysis One effective tool for responding to natural resource
damage claims is habitat equivalency analysis (HEA). HEA is a method originally developed
by trustees for estimating compensation for natural resource service losses and calculating
the scale of compensatory restoration required to offset those losses. The principle behind
HEA is that damage compensation can be achieved through habitat “replacement.” The
HEA approach can provide the foundation for successful closure of natural resource damage
issues by:
- Clearly defining negotiating limits
- Allowing negotiations to start with cost-effective restoration options
- Avoiding monetization of damages and focusing on habitat restoration
To better use the information gained
from an HEA, Exponent scientists have
developed a spreadsheet-based model
for entering and calculating HEA data.
The model integrates current ecological
habitat equivalency concepts with
financially based discounting methods.
The model is flexible and is designed to
allow for rapid iterations of analyses
with different input values. This tool
quickly displays nominal and discounted
injury and restoration values, thus allowing our clients to make informed decisions for planning, negotiating, and legal defense.
Resources
Natural Resource Damage
Assessment Case Studies | top |
