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  • Litigation Support for Environmental Consulting Firm
    A senior member of Cushing, Jammallo & Wheeler assisted another environmental consulting firm in a ligation case brought by a property owner. This firm had performed a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment in accordance with ASTM methodology. Several years after this assessment, site construction unearthed a leaking UST that had not been previously identified by the consulting firm. Site assessment and cleanup associated with the leaking UST totaled approximately $400,000. CJW's role was to assess whether the consultant performed the Level I Environmental Site Assessment with a reasonable degree of care and skill consistent with that of similar professionals performing such services at the same time and under the same circumstances. CJW determined that the conclusions reached by the consultant were consistent with reasonably ascertainable information obtained by and/or provided to the consultant and available to be relied upon at the time.

  • Litigation Support for Former Car Dealership, Melrose, Massachusetts
    In the late 1800s, a site in Malden was occupied by a coal and lumber yard, including a large coal shed with an adjacent railroad. These uses of the site continued into the early 1940s. Subsequently, a car dealership (the Defendant) operated at a site from 1946 to 1978. In 1980, the building at the site was renovated into office condominiums. Environmental investigations performed in the 1990s and early 2000s revealed soil and groundwater contamination, including petroleum hydrocarbons, chlorinated solvents, and PCBs. The condominium association (the Plaintiff) asserted that the car dealership was responsible for the contamination. A senior member of CJW was retained as an expert to provide professional services and opinions for the former car dealership, including review of documents, technical evaluations, regulatory analysis, observance of subsurface investigations, sample collection, and preparation of an expert report summarizing findings and opinions based on this effort. CJW determined that the cleanup of the site to date and the proposed future remediation costs were attributable to: 1) contamination of the site by oil, for which the Plaintiff had identified no release attributable to the Defendants; and 2) contamination resulting from buried railroad timbers containing creosote for which the Defendants were not responsible. To the extent that other artifacts or contaminants were found on the site, the cleanup of the Site to date and the future remediation proposed by the Plaintiff was not attributable to those other contaminants, and the past and future remediation costs were not increased by their presence at the site.

  • Leaking Abandoned Underground Storage Tank, Food Processor, Watertown, Massachusetts
    Cushing, Jammallo & Wheeler's senior members provided court testimony relating to a case involving a leaking, abandoned underground storage tank. During the course of removing an underground storage tank a previously unknown tank was encountered. The abandoned tank had been installed by the former owner. Investigations had revealed that the tank and its piping had leaked, resulting in soil and groundwater contamination. CJW provided testimony describing response actions conducted at the site and provided supporting documentation on the likely ownership of the former UST. Following a favorable verdict for its client, CJW provided additional testimony related to environmental restoration costs to aid in determining an equitable cost settlement.