Expert Witness Testimony and Litigation Support for an Active Wood Processing Facility

OUR CHALLENGE

A plaintiff group had alleged that releases of dioxins, PAHs, and other chemicals had entered the attics and crawl spaces of their homes as dusts from a nearby active wood products facility. Our challenge was to examine the supporting information and reports related to these allegations and prepare an expert report and testimony to counter this complaint.

OUR APPROACH

We implemented a multifaceted investigation that included attic dust sampling, air modeling, and chemical fingerprinting comparing patterns in facility emissions to those in attic dust to determine chemical presence and potential source. Our analysis was submitted as an expert report, and we also provided expert testimony.

OUR IMPACT

Our analysis showed that the chemical patterns in the attic dust samples did not definitively match published emission patterns and were not similar amongst themselves, indicating other possible sources of the chemicals. The case was tried in U.S. District Court, and the jury rendered a unanimous verdict in favor of the defense.