EAST BRUNSWICK-–Whitman Companies, one of New Jersey’s leaders in environmental, civil and structural engineering, played an important role in helping to strike down the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) formula for determining the monetary value of natural resource damages.
Founded in 1985, Whitman has emerged as a leading expert in environmental litigation cases, focusing on matters of cost allocation, liability, insurance and remediation. This landmark case requires NJDEP to re-evaluate its formula for determining how much natural resources are worth and prohibits the department from using a standard formula without ensuring that the formula stands up to scientific peer review.
Edward Sullivan, P.G., a senior project manager for Whitman, testified on behalf of one of the co-defendants in the case that the formula used by the department to calculate damages used values that are flawed, resulting in an over-estimation of the damages in this case. While the department continues to have the right to sue for loss of services and values in the event of contamination, it cannot do so without providing supporting evidence for a specific monetary amount.
DEP sought $352,000 in damages for a spill that originated in Ewing, Mercer County, which resulted in groundwater contamination. While the judge in the case found that the DEP had the right to seek compensatory restoration damages, the formula used to determine the damages was viewed as being significantly flawed.
The problem with the formula, however, is that the input is not site specific and default values, such as a 30-year period for restoration, are not accurate or defensible for many sites.
The DEP also used the current cost for the value of water, even though the formula assumed a 30-year remediation duration. The remediation period for this particular site was also estimated by Whitman to be nine years, not 30 as assumed by NJDEP.
The Whitman Companies
www.whitmanco.com
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