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Exponent provides rigorous and credible scientific analysis
and testimony to litigation support projects. Our scientists
and engineers evaluate the available facts, collect additional
field or laboratory data, and present the results in a clear
and defensible manner. Exponent offers both consulting and
testifying experts in matters involving cost allocation and
source apportionment; policy holder claims – particularly
in reconstructing historic releases that were “sudden
and accidental”; toxic tort and property damage claims;
and natural resource damage claims.
Cost Recovery Litigation Support for CERCLA Removal of
Lead-Contaminated Soil
Exponent provided legal deposition and expert reports in a
cost recovery litigation case involving remediation of lead-contaminated
soil at a salvage yard in the Midwest. Our clients (the plaintiffs)
were a group of companies who had historically sent lead-sheathed
cable to the salvage yard for recycling. These companies were
a subset of those that had been identified as “potentially
responsible parties” (PRPs) by the EPA under the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of
1980 (CERCLA) and had paid in excess of $10 million for remediation
of the lead-contaminated soil. Our clients were seeking cost
recovery from the owner and operator of the salvage yard.
Exponent reviewed historical records, operational practices,
and site analytical data; quantified source contributions;
evaluated differences in relative mobility; and developed
a conceptual model for lead accumulation in site soils. Exponent
successfully demonstrated that sources of lead other than
shielded cable (such as lead-acid batteries, lead paint, solder,
lead dross, mill scale, and emissions from equipment using
leaded gasoline) had caused the majority of the soil contamination.
The case was settled to the plaintiff's (our clients) satisfaction,
resulting in a large percentage of these costs being allocated
to the other responsible parties at the site. The figures
shown here illustrate some of the allocation techniques used
for the project.
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