Course Description

Course ID:

CHEM-550

Category:

Chemistry Remediation Toxicology

Continuing Education Units:

1.30CEUs

Description:

This course provides useful information for a large range of professionals who deal with environmental water resources, especially legal liability and changes in stream water quality, shallow water table, drainage, wetlands, and sedimentation issues.

Course attendees will gain an understanding of the basics of forensic science and the main environmental forensic techniques available and how they apply to complex inverse condemnation, regulatory takings, and environmental damage cases.

The forensic techniques explored in this course include:

Water quality and shallow water table modeling,
Hyrologic Modeling for shallow groundwaters and wetlands,
Sediment transport modeling of streams and rivers
Tracing pollutants in watersheds
Wetland drainage,
Complex wetland delineation,
Riparian rights,
Sediment age dating.
Bacterial Fingerprinting, ARA, DNA

For more detailed information on course contents, see the Course Topics section under more information.

In addition, the expert witness investigations of several prior environmental cases before the United States Federal Court of Claims will be examined, and attendees will be asked to brainstorm several case studies and discuss alternative investigative approaches.

California Department of Public Health, CDPH, Approved for contact hours.

*Reduced tuition is available for Native American tribes, government employees, nonprofits, students and AFS, NAEP, NEBC, TAEP members.

You may register online or by calling the Northwest Environmental Training Center at (425) 270-3274. Online registration is strongly encouraged.

Please wait to receive a course confirmation email, roughly one month prior to the class, before making any travel arrangements.

Attendees will receive a course manual containing workshop proceedings and reference material.

Intended Audience:

This course is intended for environmental professionals including, but not limited to, environmental consultants, industrial operators (e.g., power, mining, farming, and construction companies), insurance agency employees, environmental lawyers, and local, state and federal governmental employees.

More Information

Course Topics

Basics of Forensic Science

Where and How is Environmental Applied?

Preparing an Analysis of Evidence and Methods of Proof

How to Win a Case?

River and Groundwater Gauging Data

NOAA & NRCS Climatic Data

Sources of Aerial Photographs

Rules of Evidence

Field Surveys, Sample Collection, and Documentation

Lake Sedimentation

Mineralogical Fingerprinting Analysis

Radioactive Isotope Analysis

Micro-Landscape Age Variations

Radiocarbon 14C Laboratory Results

Potential Problems with Radiocarbon Dating of Sediments

Radio-nuclide Age Dating of Sediments with 137Cesium

Radio-nuclide Age Dating of Sediments with 210Lead

Other Techniques for Age Dating of Sediments

Spatial Analysis of Contaminates in Soil & Groundwaters

Case Study #1 – Metals Contamination of Soils and Groundwaters

Hydrological Modeling of Streams and Rivers

Sediment Transport Modeling of Streams and Rivers

Water Quality Modeling of Streams and Rivers

Water Quality Modeling of Watersheds

Tracing Pollutants in Watersheds

What is DNA Fingerprinting?

Bacterial Fingerprinting of Pollutant Sources in Watersheds

ARA Bacterial Fingerprinting

DNA Bacterial Fingerprinting

Age Dating of Groundwater

Hydrologic Modeling of Shallow Groundwaters

Hydrologic Modeling of Wetlands

Case Study #2 – Mississippi River

Examining Plaintiffs’ Expert Report on Moreau River

Case Study #3 – Sedimentation Along the Moreau River

What is More Important in Forensic Investigations and Why?

Working with Attorneys

Developing Plaintiff and Defense Expert Strategies

What to Bring

Pen or pencil to take notes. Please bring paper if you do not wish to take notes in your course book. Lunch will be on your own but drinks and snacks will be provided throughout the day.

Billing Information

In order to guarantee a space in a course, the tuition must be paid in full TWO WEEKS before the first day of the course by either check or credit card. State and government agencies paying with a purchase order are allowed payment under the two-week time frame if a copy of the purchase order is received by NWETC.

If You Need to Cancel

Cancellations*

With 31 or more days notice, we will offer a 100% refund or credit towards a future course. The credit is good for one year and may be applied to any course.
With 30-8 days notice, we will offer a course credit towards a future course. The credit is good for one year and may be applied to any course.
With fewer than 8 days notice, there is no course credit available

*Please note that attendee replacement is welcome at any time