In addition to consulting-project activities, Mr. Campbell of I2M Consulting has been providing litigation support and expert witness testimony over more than 25 years and has been involved in cases in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arizona, Kansas, Ohio, Georgia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Oregon, Virginia, Indiana, Nevada, Tennessee, New York, California, Washington, and Washington, D.C.
Mr. Campbell and I2M personnel have performed investigations and provided technical support and associated reports on contaminant transport and hydrogeological conditions of hazardous constituents in a variety of geographical and geological settings. They have provided opinions on drilling and monitoring well installation and sampling, sampling of soils and sediments, on CERCLA and RCRA issues, including activities related to the National Contingency Plan (NCP), and also on forensic investigations of contaminated water supplies involving E. coli, Naegleria fowleri, and metals. Other types of projects include investigations on PCE contamination from dry-cleaning facilities and other common sources of soil and groundwater contamination.
Based on extensive interdisciplinary experience, the I2M team also has substantial experience in projects for industry and in litigation involving mining, mineral exploration, and mining-property assessment and development, mine de-watering, and ground-water supply projects. I2M Associates personnel have held senior-level industrial management positions in the mining and petrochemical industries and associated engineering consulting firms. Mr. Campbell and his team presented a three-part paper on litigation and the geosciences, see Part I (here), Part II (here), and Part III (here). More recently, similar issues were addressed regarding environmental, health, and property damage issues confronted by litigants opposing hydraulic fracturing and oil and gas production in Texas (more).
Mr. Campbell is a licensed geologist and hydrogeologist in numerous states and overseas (see his CV), and has undertaken a variety of cases, 99% of which have been settled long before trial. In one plaintiff case, ranch and stock-water supply wells had been impacted by brine from an evaporation pit owned by an oil and gas production company operating in West Texas. Other cases involved alleged groundwater contamination of local, rural water supply wells adjacent to a large petrochemical complex, and project-cost allocations of groundwater investigations originating in and around an operating plant handling PCBs and solvents such as PCE, TCE, and PCA. For a review of selected projects and cases undertaken by I2M Consulting personnel over the years, see the summaries below.
Mining and landfill cases have involved assessments of cost and activity of a mining contractor on a project in Nevada and a landfill-permitting case, the former engaged by plaintiff attorney and the latter for the defendant. Other cases have included reviews of expert reports (both defendant and plaintiff), and analyses of expert witness testimony during and after depositions, case structure, and technical execution of consultant activities. I2M personnel also have supervised field investigations to provide independent validation of the hydrogeologic and geologic conditions present for a variety of objectives. Mr. Campbell served as a member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Environmental Forensics during the period: 2000 to 2003.
Cases by Mr. Campbell:
A summary of selected cases undertaken by the I2M team (with Mr. Campbell as lead expert) over the past 20 years are included below:
- A major water-well drilling company conducted a drilling operation to install a high-capacity groundwater supply for a client in west Texas, but during which drilling-fluid circulation was lost and the drilling bit was subsequently found to have been mechanically disassembled and many hours were spent fishing in attempts to recover the large metal fragments from the bottom of the hole. After a while, they discovered that the drill collar(s) positioned in the drill-string just above the drill bit had also apparently failed. The company that designed and manufactured the drill collar(s) engaged Mr. Campbell to investigate the drilling records and associated data to determine the likely cause(s) of the failures. The case is still pending.
- A major uranium mining company in New Mexico made claims to insurance company for their clean-up operations after closure of underground mining operations. Mr. Campbell was engaged to investigate insurance claims and found that the mining company had created the widepread contamination around the property while and after they were mining and that was not covered by the insurance policys involved. Mr. Campbell was deposed in a seven-hour deposition and the case was settled a few months later.
- A previous owner of an electroplating company sold the operations, and after 7 years, the new owner accused previous owner of major offsite spill of metal-rich process water or wastewater. I2M Associates personnel were engaged to investigate the available data and opine on the likely causes(s) of the metals contamination once present in the soil before removal operations were conducted by the present owner. The investigation has been completed.
- A prominent agricultural producer allowed a major natural gas company to drill, produce, and distribute natural gas from company lands. I2M Associates personnel were engaged to investigate the likely environmental impact to lands and associated ground water and surface water now that production has ceased if a network of pipelines is not removed from below sensitive agricultural soils according to an original agreement between the parties. The investigation has been completed.
- A company dealing in oil and gas field equipment had applied brine over the past few years in a State-permitted activity to reduce dust on their property. Adjacent property owners have indicated that drinking water from their original, shallow water wells tasted salty and have brought suit against the company for contaminating their drinking water with brine. I2M Associates personnel were engaged to conduct hydrogeologic investigations to determine the likely cause(s) of the alleged contamination. The investigations have been completed.
- A commercial real-estate transaction came under dispute on the basis of the identification of asbestos materials in the subsurface after the transaction had closed. I2M Associates personnel were engaged to evaluate the environmental consultant’s activities during its Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, in light of the consultant’s responsibility, experience, staff capability, field procedures and associated ASTM guidelines and industry standard of care. The evaluation has been completed.
- A manufacturer of stainless steel casing engaged I2M personnel to conduct preliminary investigations and to review available information on the likely cause(s) of casing failures in two large-diameter, high-capacity water wells during completion activities of wells located in an agricultural district of the western U.S. The investigation has been completed.
- A rancher in the southwest U.S. reported his private water well system began pumping bad water after a work-over on a nearby producing gas well. I2M Associates personnel were engaged to investigate the likely source of the contamination. A hydrogeologic evaluation has been completed.
- Lead has appeared in anomalous concentrations in drinking water within the home from a domestic rural water system located in the northeast U.S. I2M Associates personnel were engaged to sample and evaluate likely source(s) of the lead and associated constituents, some of which may have played a role in the learning disabilities reported in the youngest child of the rural family. Case settled.
- A large real estate company engaged an environmental consulting firm to conduct Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site Assessments for a large multi-property shopping center transaction. Initial findings by the consultant led the real-estate company to close on the deal. Subsequent investigations by a second consultant found DNAPL associated with dry-cleaners located on the properties. I2M Associates personnel were engaged to evaluate the initial consultant’s activities in light of the consultant’s experience, staff capability, field procedures and related ASTM guidelines and industry standard of care. Case went to trial and then settled.
- A pathogenic variant of E. coli, O157:H7, has appeared as the likely source of illness in a rural family. I2M personnel were engaged to assess the likely source(s) of the pathogenic bacteria. The area is characterized by numerous, closely spaced, small farms, with cattle, sheep, wildlife, septic tank systems, and a stream, all in the immediate vicinity of a water well used as a source of drinking water. Investigations have been completed. Case settled.
- A service station proprietor was accused by the land owner of contaminating soil and ground water with BTEX and MTBE. I2M personnel were engaged to review the available sampling and hydrogeologic data and determined that the the owner’s consultant was less than forthcoming concerning the data used to characterize the groundwater conditions and the configuration of the plume of contamination. When using all of the relevant data, the source of the contamination was found to be more likely an adjacent car wash facility. Parties have settled the dispute.
- A major sand and gravel company’s consultant drilled on portions of a potential lessor’s land without permission on the basis that “the company was doing the land owner a favor.” The company is suing the land owner for breach of contract (i.e., alleged failure to honor their rights to conduct mining operations on the subject land). I2M personnel reviewed the issues of the case and found that the company overstepped the agreement and violated the landowner’s rights to limit ingress according to standard industry practice. Settled.
- The failure of a high-capacity water well owned by municipal utility district prompted management to turn to their insurance company for funds to replace the well, according to the terms of the policy. I2M Associates personnel conducted a preliminary investigation and found evidence to suggest that regional soft-sediment faulting caused the well structure to fail. As a result of more than 25 years of vertical stress caused by land subsidence associated with groundwater production with minor lateral movement in the subsurface, the well screen ruptured and catastrophic failure of the well resulted. Case settled in pre-trial.
- A major chemical plant is suing its previous consultant for exacerbating DNAPL contamination below its production facility during and after an ill-conceived monitoring well drilling program. I2M Associates personnel were asked to review the relevant information and to determine if the consultant’s activities were likely responsible for the DNAPL contaminating the deep aquifers. I2M personnel found that the consultant and their contractors were culpable and should be held responsible for contributing funds for assisting in the clean-up of the deep aquifers below the plant. Case settled.
- The National Contingency Plan (NCP) of the 1970s was invoked in an attempt to force an industrial company to join a group of PRPs to clean up a Midwest dump. I2M personnel were engaged to evaluate claims made by ex-EPA consultants for the plaintiffs that the NCP carried weight when applied to inland contamination in the mid-1970s. I2M Associates personnel found that the NCP had no impact on parties involved in ground-water contamination occurring some distance away from the waters of the United States because the NCP had not been equipped yet with the necessary capabilities to implement such intentions and associated provisions. Case settled.
- A municipal water supply operator was sued by the community it served for allowing benzene to be distributed in the water supply. I2M Associates personnel were engaged to investigate the possible source of the benzene and determined that 1) testing was not required by the operator, and hence did not know of the presence of benzene, and 2) the source of the benzene was likely the gas-producing formation below the drinking-water aquifer breached by over drilling in the confining unit separating the aquifer from the gas-producing sand below. A jury trial found in favor of the plaintiff, but the finding is under judicial review.
Additional case summaries are available (more).
Feel free to contact us to discuss your project needs or to arrange a speaking engagement by one of our Associates for a professional training session, a technical conference, society meeting, or for a graduation ceremony or other function where the knowledge and experience of our Associates may be of interest to your group.
The I2M Principal responsible for this discipline’s activities involving geology and hydrogeology is:
