Verdantas (as TIG Environmental) recently helped a client who owned and operated a water-dependent business within a complex contaminated waterway. Remedial action estimates for the site approached several billion dollars, with over 100 parties involved in a private allocation.

To help our client, a small business owner with an upload waterfront property located downstream of several PCB-contaminated areas, remain functional and profitable, we assessed the origin of contamination in the sediments adjacent to upland properties owned and/or operated by the client through review of relevant historical and operational records, field investigations, and sampling efforts. Based on this investigation, Verdantas quantified contaminant transport from upstream hot spots and employed fingerprinting techniques to differentiate sources of the sediment contamination adjacent to the client’s waterfront business.

Verdantas’ assessment of the history of operations at and surrounding the subject property was partnered with a quantitative technical approach to identify the sources of contamination present in sediment, soil, and groundwater at the site. Using the results of these evaluations, we were able to successfully attribute nearly all of the sediment contamination to other parties and bring two parties into the cleanup of the upland parcel.