EXPERT
WITNESS TESTIMONY
Industrial
and Environmental
Chemical Forensics
Looking
for Technical Assistance in Litigation Proceedings?
As
an Associate Member of the
American Bar
Association, David Gossman, President, Gossman
Consulting, Inc. can
provide expert technical assistance to legal counsel in litigation
involving
chemical and environmental forensics, hazardous waste materials,
laboratory testing, hazardous materials handling, regulatory
compliance,
fires and explosions at hazardous waste management facilities and
injury or
chemical
exposure claims due to hazardous materials or hazardous materials
operations.
Incidents
routinely occur as a
result of poorly designed or executed maintenance procedures including:
- Hiring
and training practices
- Laboratory
methods
- Sales
and marketing strategies
- Ambiguous
or conflicting regulations
Proper
analysis of these potential causes requires both technical and
operational expertise.
GCI has the technical
background and the needed communication skills to explain the science
behind
what
happened and the
real life operational experience to explain why
it
happened.
Incidents that prompt
litigation do not just happen, they occur as the result of a string of
decisions that can date back to the initial facility design. Even
a badly written regulation may contribute to the
eventual incident.
Clearly GCI’s
experience and expertise can be a valuable aid in preparing for
litigation.
GCI
provides the technical expertise and
develops the evidentiary basis for legal arguments relying on or
involving:
- Industrial and environmental
chemical forensic analysis
- Hazard analysis and HAZOPs
- Causation proved by fate and
transport of chemicals and their
degradation products in the environment.
- Polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs) - management, testing, QC and
environmental fate
- Dioxin (polychlorinated
dibenzodioxin and polychlorinated
dibenzofuran) emissions and sources in the environment
- Appropriate standard of care
for management of hazardous waste
and hazardous materials
- Analytical chemistry and
proper quality assurance / quality
control (QA/QC)
- Regulatory compliance
- Safety and prevention of
catastrophic events at industrial
facilities such as fires and explosions
- Prevention of injury or
chemical exposure resulting from
hazardous materials or hazardous materials operations
- Prevention of chemical
spills and/or proper management of
historical environmental contamination
Experience
The list below provides examples from some of his litigation support
history. A comprehensive list with added details is available upon
request.
Identified the nontypical source of
dioxin emissions
from a cement plant and assisted counsel in defending the client
company from associated enforcement action.
Identified the causes of an explosion
and fire that
resulted in a fatality at a hazardous waste management facility and
assisted with the defense in the resulting civil case.
Testified at trial on behalf of
plaintiffs in a case
involving an industrial burn accident at a cement plant.
Provided technical reports and assisted
counsel
during hearings regarding an adjudicated permit for a cement plant in
the state of New York.
Testified at trial on behalf of
plaintiffs in a case
involving the release of oily waste from a containment structure
failure.
Provided an expert report and assisted
counsel
during settlement negotiation on an enforcement case brought by the
federal EPA against a hazardous waste management company.
Provided an expert report that
identified the cause
of an explosion and fire of a rail car containing hazardous waste
derived from the process of manufacturing toluene diisocyanate.
Provided an expert report that
identified the cause
of a fire and explosion in storage tanks containing flammable solvents.
Provided an expert report and testified
for over a
day relative to an adjudicated permit hearing in the state of Texas for
a hazardous waste management facility.
Provided an expert report in a civil
case relative
to patents on a process for using waste materials in an industrial
process.
Provided an expert report in a civil
environmental
enforcement case on behalf of a union representing workers at the plant
which was the subject of the complaint.
Assisted counsel to prepare for a civil
case
relative to environmental damages to an adjoining property.
Expert opinion letter provided relative
to criminal
complaint regarding violation of RCRA hazardous waste management
regulations.
Work place sampling and data
interpretation provided
relative to potential toxic metal worker exposure in a civil case.
Identified the cause of and wrote an
expert opinion
letter regarding an explosion and fire that injured an employee at a
hazardous waste management facility.
Wrote an expert report relative to a
civil cased on
behalf of the injured plaintiff regarding the explosion of an aerosol
can.
Expertise
David
Gossman's academic background includes a BS and MS in
Interdisciplinary Physical Science. His graduate program
focused
on Analytical Chemistry, Geophysics and Science
Communication. He
has extensive industrial and laboratory experience as well as an expert
support staff.
The following links provide a few
examples of the
expertise we can provide.
The Use of a
Comprehensive
Facility Operations Review and HAZOP Study to Limit Liabilities and
Risks in
the Operation of Hazardous Waste Fuel Facilities
GCI
Tech
Notes
"Restricting Highly Toxic Wastes at Hazardous Waste Fuel Facilities"
Mar-99
GCI
Tech Notes
"HAZOP REVIEWS" August-98
GCI
Tech Notes
"Working Together in Plant Operations" Dec-96
GCI Tech
Notes "EPA
Dioxin Exposure Assessment Comments”, Feb-95
"The
Added Risk to
Health, Safety and the Environment Due to the BIF Regulation"
HWF Notes
"GC
Solvents-Safety and Health”, Feb-93
HWF Notes
"DOT Hazmat
Training”, Jan-93
Qualification
Statements:
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To
download, please use the
following links:
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Windows users, please click
here.
For
Macintosh users, please click
here.
If
you have
questions or wish to set up a meeting please contact David Gossman at
(563)
652-2822 or send an e-mail.
For
a copy of
our Commercial
Rates and
Terms,
just click on this link to
send us an e-mail. An auto-responder
will
immediately send it to you. Any information you would like to provide
about
yourself and your company is appreciated.
