Methods in Environmental Forensics

While environmental catastrophes can be naturally occurring, often they are the result of criminal intent or malfeasance. Sorting out the details when the land itself is the only witness requires a special set of investigative skills. For accountability to be established, investigators must be able to answer these questions with a measure of scientific certainty: How and when did the contamination occur? Who caused the contamination? What are the consequences and extent of liability? Offering investigators a complete field manual, Methods in Environmental Forensics organizes the work of leading international experts who demonstrate the most effective techniques for determining the source of environmental contaminations. The book begins with the presentation of a case and follows the tasks of an active investigator from the case’s inception up through the delivery of expert court testimony. The text then reviews those scientific methods that have been used with success in environmental forensic investigations. Detailed information is provided on chemical fingerprinting techniques as they apply to ground water, soils, sediments, and air. Lastly, the scientific methods presented are examined from a legal perspective with an emphasis on the admissibility and presentation of evidence and the delivery of expert testimony. This unique and comprehensive volume gives forensic chemists, investigators and attorneys the tools needed to solve mysteries of toxic devastation and build cases that will establish the accountability of those responsible. Its editor, Stephen M. Mudge, has been conducting environmental forensic investigations for many years. He has served as an expert witness in several environmental contamination cases, and he continues to research new methods for the quantification and source apportionment of chemicals around the world.