Other Information

Recent Developments in MTBE

The "safe harbor" provision that would have impacted the cleanup liability of makers of gasoline containing methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) was removed from the recent energy legislation. Exponent scientist Jim Davidson recently co-authored a study for the American Petroleum Institute (API) that analyzed the costs of cleaning up MTBE gasoline spills at underground storage tank sites and removing the gasoline additive from public water supplies and private wells. For more information on developments in MTBE or on the API study, please contact Jim at (303) 544-2009 or jdavidson@exponent.com.

Upcoming Exponent Workshop: Engineering and Environmental Forensics

With the unprecedented growth in human activities, we face failures of some of the structures we build and releases of hazardous substances to the environment. It is often necessary to determine how and when the failure took place or when and where the release took place. Significant advances have helped to answer these and related questions. Exponent will host a free workshop on Forensics in Engineering and the Environment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on October 17, 2005, from 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm. The workshop will focus on techniques that have proven valuable in establishing causes and timing of failure of structures and location and timing of release events. The workshop will expound on lessons learned from actual case studies and is geared toward lawyers and in-house legal and technical staff.

Upcoming Conferences and CLE Presentations

American Bar Association (ABA) 13th Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources Fall Meeting
September 21–25, 2005
Nashville, TN

International Society of Environmental Forensics (ISEF) Workshop — Environmental Forensics: Focus on Perchlorate
September 21–22, 2005
Santa Fe, NM
Moderator: P. Mesard

Anthropogenic Sources of Perchlorate and Associated Groundwater Chemistry
P. Mesard, W. McNab

55th Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
October 16–19, 2005

PSM’s Role in Post Incident and Project Delay Disputes—Business Case Study
S. Almaula

Engineering & Environmental Forensics Workshop
October 17, 2005
Boston, MA
R. Latanision, P. Boehm

Environmental Forensics CLE
October 20, 2005
San Francisco, CA
P. Boehm, B. Murphy

Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC) North America 26th Annual Meeting
November 13–17, 2005
Baltimore, MD

Recent Publications

Almaula, S. 2005. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from steelmaking. Environ. Foren. 6:143–150.

Bigham, G., B. Henry, and B. Bessinger. 2005. Mercury— A tale of two toxins. Natural Resources & Environment (ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources) 19(4):26–30.

Booth, P., and K. Gribben. 2005. A review of the formation, environmental fate, and forensic methods for PAHs from aluminum smelting processes. Environ. Foren. 6:132–142.

Boehm, P.D., D.S. Page, J.S. Brown, J.M. Neff, and A.E. Bence. 2005. Comparison of mussels and semi-permeable membrane devices as intertidal monitors of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at oil spill sites. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 50: 740–750.

Murphy, B.L., and J.S. Brown. 2005. Environmental forensics aspects of PAHs from wood treatment with creosote compounds. Environ. Foren. 6:151–159.

Murphy, B.L., T. Sparacio, and W.J. Shields. 2005. Manufactured gas plants— Processes, historical development, and key issues in insurance coverage disputes. Environ. Foren. 6:161–173.