Introduction To Environmental Forensics

Introduction to Environmental Forensics helps readers unravel the complexities of environmental pollution cases. It outlines techniques for identifying the source of a contaminant release, when the release occurred, and the extent of human exposure. Written by leading experts in environmental investigations, the text provides detailed information on chemical "fingerprinting" techniques applicable to ground water, soils, sediments, and air, plus an in-depth look at petroleum hydrocarbons.

It gives the environmental scientist, engineer, and legal specialist a complete toolbox for conducting forensic investigations. It demonstrates the range of scientific analyses that are available to answer questions of environmental liability and support a legal argument, and provides several examples and case studies to illustrate how these methods are applied.

This is a textbook that would prove useful to a range of disciplines, including environmental scientists involved in water and air pollution, contaminated land and geographical information systems; and archaeologists, hydrochemists and geochemists interested in dating sources of pollution.

* Co-edited by one of the experts from the Civil Action case in Woburn, MA
* Provides essential information about identifying environmental contaminants responsible for millions of deaths per year
* Contains the latest information and coverage of issues crucial to both forensics investigators and environmental scientists

Annotation

Audience: Environmental consultants and engineers, environmental attorneys, technical specialists who monitor environmental pollution and contamination, and upper-division students in related areas.

Editorial Reviews

Twelve articles by scientists and professors from a range of disciplines focus on environmental law cases where a determination must be made about who caused the contamination in question, when and how it occurred, its extent, the validity of the test results, and the levels of contamination to which people were exposed. Chapters address contexts in which US environmental investigations occur (site assessments for property transfers, toxic torts, etc.); types of documentary records (fire insurance maps, aerial photography, electronic information from hard drives); and measurements for forensic purposes, especially for two of the most common types of contaminants—petroleum hydrocarbons and chlorinated solvents. Appendices focus on the chemical composition of automotive gas and diesel fuel, applications and synonyms of selected chlorinated solvents, and the chemical properties of chlorinated solvents at 25 degrees centigrade. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)