Data Hub Development for Complex Environmental Litigation Support

OUR CHALLENGE

A prominent environmental law firm specializing in complex litigation matters hired Integral to take on the challenging task of managing, organizing, and disseminating vast amounts of data in support of ongoing litigation, public relations, and congressional hearings. The matter involved anticipated environmental impacts of significant public concern, necessitating immediate collection, analysis, and organization of the vast amount of information from multiple sources, including several onsite contractors, government agencies, local municipalities, and academic studies. Our challenge was to manage all formats of information from a wide variety of sources (e.g., chemical laboratory results, real-time monitors, geographic metadata, photographs, media coverage), and quickly and efficiently make the data and associated information accessible to support our client’s needs to make informed decisions and public announcements. 

OUR APPROACH

We developed a comprehensive centralized data hub—a secure and organized data repository that stored all relevant data collected by various sources. We also created a searchable annotated inventory with direct links to more than 20,000 documents and more than 100,000 photos, facilitating easy discovery and access to critical information. Additionally, through counsel, we led the coordinated exchange of data among the five onsite contractors and six expert consultants by establishing robust procedures to maintain data integrity and consistency.  

The data hub featured a sophisticated data exchange portal, which comprised a query tool for accessing and downloading environmental analytical data, a GIS layer explorer and connector to consolidate GIS layers and reduce duplication, and a searchable annotated inventory that facilitates authorized users to quickly access comprehensive information to support our client’s urgent needs. Additionally, we developed an interactive data viewer that enabled data discovery, visualization, and analysis. This tool allows users to review information and identify specific areas of interest, generate time series charts for trend analysis, visualize the geographic features of data, and export measurement results on maps or in tabular form.  

OUR IMPACT

Implementation of a centralized data hub resulted in significant efficiencies for the client and their support teams. The hub streamlined data accessibility for all users which reduced duplication of efforts that saved time and resources for multiple organizations. Our robust coordination procedures ensured data consistency and accuracy that facilitated expert analysis and formulating opinions to meet the tight schedules of congressional hearings and litigation, The interactive data viewer allows in-depth data exploration and trend analysis, enhancing the client’s ability to make informed decisions quickly. Overall, the project successfully addressed the complex data management needs of the client, showcasing our breadth of understanding all types of data and the importance of efficient organization, coordination, and accessibility to a large project team necessary to handle the complexities of large-scale environmental litigation cases.