Environmental PerspectivesS P R I N G • 2 0 0 9

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A P U B L I C A T I O N O F E X P O N E N T ’ S E N V I R O N M E N T A L A N D E C O S C I E N C E S P R A C T I C E SENVIRONMENTAL P E R S P E C T I V E S

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An Approach to Business Vulnerability and Risk Assessments Related to Climate Change Charles Menzie, Ph.D. Robin Cantor, Ph.D. Julian Levy Sheryl Law Paul Boehm, Ph.D.

A P U B L I C A T I O N O F E X P O N E N T ’ S E N V I R O N M E N T A L A N D E C O S C I E N C E S P R A C T I C E SENVIRONMENTAL P E R S P E C T I V E S

The phrases “climate change” and “greenhouse gas emissions” are seemingly everywhere in the media and scientific press. It is difficult to get through a day without hearing at least one of these phrases. Now, after many years of scientific and public review and debate about the climate issue, the Obama Administration is committed to implementing a regulatory structure designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. As evidence of this, the Administration is proposing new EPA rules on greenhouse gas reporting, and a new climate change bill (the “Waxman-Markey” bill, titled the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, or ACES) was introduced in Congress on March 31, 2009. In addition to ever-increasing regulatory pressures, requirements for security filings, and the emergence of the threat of common law cases, companies are now examining their strategic and operational vulnerabilities to a variety of predicted, possible, or probable changes resulting from changing climate and all of its implications. The question now on the table for many companies is, “What should my company or my clients be doing to meet regulatory requirements, and also to proactively understand the risks from and to prepare for the possible implications of climate change?”

A threshold requirement for companies is to prepare for upcoming rules by developing an accurate inventory of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Related to that action is a clear need to identify and analyze the various regulatory schemes being considered by Congress and regulatory agencies in the U.S. and elsewhere where a company may operate. Beyond what is directly required is the critical need for companies to prepare for real physical changes

related to climate modifications that create risks and can have consequences for a company’s operational infrastructure and its labor force. Such changes and associated risks are reflected in numerous examples emerging across the country.

Beginning in the 1980s, Ocean City, Maryland, anticipated that it would need to replenish beaches with imported sand, expecting to do this every 4 years (U.S. EPA 1985; Coastal and Estuarine Geology 2005). However, increasing sea levels and the occurrence of extreme storms accelerated the need for beach replenishment and Ocean City now finds itself competing annually with other communities for dwindling sources of replenishment sand.

In 2002, the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District created the first comprehensive water supply plan for Atlanta (MNGWPD 2002). It estimated that there would be a substantial increase in water demand by 2030, with water use increasing from 650 million gallons per day (MGD) in 2001 to 1,080 MGD in 2030 (Pacific Institute 2006). To meet this demand, the District relied on five new reservoirs and reallocation of water from Lake Lanier and Lake Allatoona. However, only 5 years after Georgia implemented conservation programs and policies, in 2007, Atlanta faced one of their worst droughts, even leading to political tension between Georgia, Florida, and Alabama (Davidson 2007). And in the western part of the nation, an upcoming study commissioned by the state of California shows that inaction on climate

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change will result in tens of billions of dollars in losses for several major industry sectors by 2050, which could bolster the argument for aggressive implementation of GHG emission-reduction regulations under state law AB 32.

Regardless of cause, if the climate undergoes a significant change, there could be significant business impacts. The rise in global temperature has been a driver of climate change over the past several decades and is projected to increase further under various scenarios (Figure 1). Along with temperature rise, there are anticipated changes in rainfall, snow melt, ice melt, sea level rise, and the occurrence of severe storms.

Figure 1. Temperature: past and potential future

The physical changes in the environment bring potential direct and indirect impacts that can affect a company’s facilities, supply chain, resources, and workforce. Some commonly recognized environmental drivers that will affect businesses include decreases in water supply and increases in coastal erosion. Less obvious, but important environmental drivers include the migration of invasive pest species that track with specific temperature and rainfall

1

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0

–0.2

–0.4

–0.6

Scenario BScenario C

HistoricalScenario A

1880 1908 1939 1969 2000

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AN

GE

S IN

GL

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Table 1. Climate-related legal and environmental drivers that can affect business decisions.

DRIVERS BUSINESS DECISIONSLegal

•Acquisitions

•Planning for facilities, investments, or communities in vulnerable locations

•Infrastructure planning

•Preventive health care

•Ecosystem protection

•Setting insurance coverage

•SEC and EPA reporting requirements

•Regional compacts

•NEPA and state counterparts

•Zoning

•Contract disputes

•Endangered Species Act

•Engineering assessments and representations

Environmental

•Water availability

•Flooding

•Coastal erosion

•Invasive species impacts to natural resources

•Health effects (asthma, allergies, chronic disease, vector-borne disease, heat stress

•Habitat loss for threatened and endangered species

•Severe weather events

regimes, and the increased incidence of health effects such as asthma, heat stress, and pest-borne disease such as West Nile virus. The tie between climatic events and diseases is well recognized. For example, Exponent’s scientists have shown that the incidence of pneumonia in women is correlated with the occurrence of El Niño events off the west coast (Ebi et al. 2001). Potential increases in health effects in certain regions of the country can have substantial economic impacts. Pediatric asthma alone in the U.S. affects 6.5 million children and costs $19 billion annually (U.S. EPA 2008).

Legal and environmental drivers create a new set of challenges for making informed business decisions (Table 1). Legal issues associated with potential impacts of climate have emerged with respect to water (e.g., regional compacts) and the vulnerability of particular areas (e.g., zoning changes). Others relate to reporting requirements and contracts. Further, there is a growing amount of litigation arising from the listing of and/or threats to endangered species and impacts on communities and industries.

How can a business gain better insight into the magnitude and timing of potential impacts of climate that could affect planning and decision-making? The path will require combining scientific information, forecasting tools, scenario analyses, and sound business planning that includes adaptation as an essential component. Importantly, the approach needs to explicitly consider the uncertainty in information. This necessitates a probabilistic approach that yields a limited number of possible scenarios that range in likelihood and consequence.

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An essential starting point for planning is recognizing that future climate-change impacts are regional (Figure 2). Therefore, it is not possible to extrapolate from one part of the country to another. These regional variations in temperature, rainfall, and other climate-related factors listed in Table 1 can be critical to considering acquisitions, planning new facilities, and understanding potential supply-chain disruption.

CIG RGGI

SECCSCIPPCLIMAS

CAP

CISA

WWA

ACCAP

CIG Climate Impacts Group

CAP California Applications Program

WWA Western Water Assessment

CLIMAS Climate Assessment for the Southwest

ACCAP Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy

SCIPP Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program

SECC Southeast Climate Consortium (SECC)

CISA Carolinas Integrated Sciences and Assessments

RGGI Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)

Figure 2. Regional climate change study and/or monitoring organizations

Steps needed to prepare any business for potential changes in climate include the following:

Step 2: Assess the nature and validity of the predicted climate change with respect to each climate-sensitive business areaOnce the sensitivities to climate change of the subject business are defined, the next step is to determine which climatic parameters are predicted to change, how, by what magnitude, and in what time frame. This information is essential for determining appropriate mitigation measures. For example, a 2-ft rise in sea level may be catastrophic for a given business, but a 1-ft rise may be subject to mitigation and, thus, could be a sustainable change. Given the uncertainties in the predictions and outputs from any model, and the added greater uncertainties of how models may predict on a regional or local scale, handling uncertainties is central to the success of vulnerability assessments. The best way to handle these uncertainties is to develop a robust probability distribution of relevant future climate scenarios, thus creating is a set of scenarios with probabilities associated with each. Once there is an estimate of the nature of the predicted changes in climatic parameters and a measure of their validity, it becomes possible to relate those to the climate-sensitive points within the subject business to determine where mitigation is appropriate.

A key feature of the approach is developing spatially relevant (regionally relevant) climate scenarios that cover a range of projected likelihoods (scenarios) and consequences. This is accomplished by combining two types of information, model estimates and regionally relevant trend data.

Extract and evaluate outputs with potential relevance to

region

Trend analyses using regional and reference

data sets

Analyze current and planned operationsStep 1

Outputs from climate models

Regionally-relevant trend dataStep 2

Meta-analysis to define and bound relevant scenarios (probabilistic)

Step 3 Produce vulnerability maps and other outputs that depict zones and magnitudes of effects for various scenarios

Engineering alternatives

Cost evaluations

Step 4

Environmental and socioeconomic impacts

Planning analysis for: Adaptation (existing conditions, facilities,

infrastructures), future projects, and

intervention

Step 1: Analyze current and planned business operationsThe starting point for addressing potential business vulnerabilities and risks is to perform a thorough review of operations and activities within a business and its business plans that are climate-sensitive. These could be physical aspects, such as proximity to the coast, where the business could be subjected to sea level rise or coastal erosion. They could be regulatory aspects, such as rules affecting the use of coal. They could be financial aspects, such as the need to purchase GHG credits. Or, they could be any number of other aspects, including ecological, health, quality-of-life, or chemical points. The key is to first identify all of the possible locations within a business where a change in climate could have a substantive impact on the success and sustainability of the business.

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Regionally relevant trend data are especially important because analysts typically rely on the past to predict the future. However, future rates of change may differ from past experience because of a wide variety of factors; for that reason regionally relevant model estimates of future changes provide additional insights. For effective planning, it is also essential to have an unbiased assessment of the reliability of the predictions. Any assessment of the risk associated with a predicted event must begin with an assessment of the validity of the prediction. For example, even the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) acknowledges that there is a need for better observational data, that there are “major uncertainties in understanding and modeling changes in climate relating to the hydrological cycle,” and that “it is necessary to improve understanding of the sources of uncertainty” (IPCC 2008). Modeling how climatic parameters will change on the local level, where they impact the subject business, is even more uncertain than modeling changes on the global scale. To be useful for planning purposes, the inherent uncertainties must be incorporated into the analysis and not ignored.

We use meta-analyses to combine past trend information and model projections, to yield future regional-specific climate scenarios that impact upon the driving factors (e.g., water, temperature, and sea level rise) and the likelihood of those scenarios. These are represented as three to five scenarios that reflect a range of probabilities and associated consequences. Implementing this step of the analysis requires a multidisciplinary approach with specialized expertise in meteorology, statistics, and modeling.

Step 3. Assess vulnerabilities for conditions of concernThe third step involves translating the future climate change scenarios into a range of outputs that can be used to inform decisions.

We use a spatially-explicit technique known as “alternative future analyses” to illustrate how various scenarios impact the locations of concern to a business. We then translate those scenarios into the regional- and issue-specific implications for businesses, municipalities, and/or their insurers.

The translation of scenarios into issue-specific consequences requires a broad range of expertise because the issues can vary considerably. Health scientists and epidemiologists are needed to evaluate the scenarios with respect to changes in disease incidence, other health effects, and stress. Hydrologists and water resource experts are needed to translate scenarios into possible changes in water supplies, the timing of water delivery, and the potential for floods. Meteorologists are needed to assess the frequency and severity of predicted weather events such as hurricanes, drought, and increased thunderstorms. Coastal engineers, oceanographers, and geologists are the appropriate experts to address the potential for damage to facilities and communities being planned for or residing within or adjacent to coastal areas. Supply chain experts would be called upon to evaluate how regional alterations in one area might affect supply and transport to other areas. Ecologists and biologists would have the expertise to evaluate how changes in water and temperature could

influence endangered species, the movement of invasive species, and potential threats to natural resources.

Step 4. Planning analysisInformation on the likelihood of potentially relevant business impacts of climate change enables a business to prioritize issues and make decisions. This step involves the use of familiar planning tools.

Because of inherent uncertainty, the approach involves projecting the likelihoods associated with a range of consequences that could affect a business. These can be provided in a form that considers the probability and consequence of events. Categorizing possible outcomes by likelihood and consequence helps businesses prioritize issues and informs decisions about future plans and adaptation (Figure 3).

LIK

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RANGE OF CONSEQUENCESMinor Moderate Major

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Figure 3. Possible outcomes categorized by likelihood and consequences

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The planning step will be familiar to most businesses but it needs to rest on reliable information. As a result, the preceding steps in the analysis become especially important. Information delivered by the earlier steps needs to be in a form that is most useful for business planning. That means that the decision makers need to be involved in all steps of the analyses to ensure adequate communication and delivery of information in the most useful form.

SummaryContinued changes in climate are probable under most future scenarios. However, the magnitudes and timing of these changes are uncertain and will vary on a regional basis in North America. Impacts of these changes will play out on more local scales. Therefore, business planning for impacts of climate change needs to incorporate the uncertainties in forecasts, a consideration of regional variations, and a translation to local consequences. This article has outlined a step-wise approach for generating the information needed to make informed business decisions in the future. These decisions will be influenced by a host of environmental and legal drivers. The relative importance of those drivers will depend on businesses’ operations and locations. Therefore, an effective approach for planning must integrate operational information with relevant climate projections. We propose a scenario approach that yields a range of outcomes with associated likelihoods and consequences for the business. This approach demands that excellent communication occur between the decision makers and the analysts, to ensure high utility of information.

AuthorsCharles A. Menzie, Ph.D. is a Principal Scientist and Director of Exponent’s EcoSciences practice. His primary area of expertise is assessing the environmental and health risks associated with past or potential future conditions. Dr. Menzie has worked on coastal environments, uplands, and desert ecosystems.

Robin Cantor, Ph.D. is a Principal in Exponent’s Health Sciences practice. She specializes in environmental and energy economics, applied economics, statistics, risk management, and insurance claims analysis. Dr. Cantor’s experience includes economic studies in antitrust, intellectual property, employment discrimination, false advertising, regulation, and other areas of product and market analysis.

Julian A Levy is a Senior Managing Scientist in Exponent’s Environmental Sciences practice. A Fellow of the Air & Waste Management Association, Mr. Levy has addressed virtually all areas of air quality science for almost 35 years. He first analyzed the “runaway greenhouse effect” in 1972 and has consulted on global climate issues since 1998. On multiple occasions, Mr. Levy has testified before legislative bodies on the climate change issues.

Sheryl Law is a Senior Scientist in Exponent’s EcoSciences practice. She is broadly trained in environmental science and business, and provides strong technical support on ecological risk assessments, natural resource damage assessments, litigation projects, and corporate sustainability.

Paul D. Boehm, Ph.D. is a Principal Scientist and Group Vice President at Exponent, with overall responsibility for Exponent’s Environmental business. He has devoted his 32 years of consulting experience to advising industrial, legal, and government clients on scientific aspects of environmental contamination and its consequences, development of environmental monitoring programs, and the use of environmental forensic methods in scientific studies.

ReferencesCoastal and Estuarine Geology. 2005. The need for sand in Ocean City, Maryland. Available at http://www/mgs/md/gov/coastal/osr/ocsand.html. Last updated December 13, 2005. Accessed March 12, 2009.

Davidson, C. 2007. Will Southeast’s water woes become water wars? Econ South 9(4). Available at: http://www.frbatlanta.org/publica/pubs_pubrouter.cfm?pub_type =ECON%20SOUTH &pub_year=2007.

Ebi KL, Exuzides KA, Lau E, Kelsh M, Barnston A. Association of normal weather periods and El Niño events with hospitalization for viral pneumonia in females: California, 1983–1998. Am J Pub Health; 91(8): 1200–1208.

IPCC. 2008. Climate change and water. IPCC Technical Paper VI. Bates BC, Kundewicz ZW, Wu S, and Palutikof JP (eds). Available at: http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/technical-papers.htm. Accessed April 3, 2009. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Geneva, Switzerland.

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MNGWPD. 2002. Activities and Progress Report 2002. Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District. Available at: www.northgeorgiawater.com/files/MNGWPD_Annual02.pdf.

Pacific Institute. 2006. A review of water conservation planning for the Atlanta, Georgia region. Prepared for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security, Oakland, CA. Available at: http://www.pacinst.org/reports/atlanta/atlanta_analysis.pdf. Accessed March 12, 2009.

U.S. EPA. 1985. Potential impacts of sea level rise on the beach at Ocean City, Maryland. EPA 230-10-85-013. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Policy Planning and Evaluation, Washington, DC. Available at: http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/GlobalWarming.nsf/ UniqueKeyLookup/SHSU5BVJSU/$File/ocean_city.pdf.

U.S. EPA. 2008. Children’s Environmental Health 2008 Highlights. EPA-100-K-08-004. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Children’s Health Protection and Environmental Education, Washington DC. Available at: http://yosemite.epa.gov/ochp/ochpweb.nsf/content/ 2008_highlights.htm/$File/OCHP_2008_Highlights_508.pdf.

apportionment of liability. Technical evidence including environmental forensics and contaminant modeling can be used to demonstrate divisibility of sources at a multiparty site, while advanced engineering evaluation and probabilistic uncertainty analysis can be used to link sources to potential costs. Additionally, the tightening of rules related to financial assurance requirements for environmental obligations and problems within the insurance industry further raise the need for a defensible approach for estimating the value of liabilities. The upcoming article will discuss Exponent’s multidisciplinary approach to apportionment and valuation.

Valuing Environmental Liabilities

Kirk O’Reilly, Ph.D., J.D., and Mark Johns, Ph.D., P.G.

Accurately quantifying environmental liabilities is becoming increasingly important, whether dealing with a property transfer, a multiparty Superfund site, or a portfolio of industrial sites. In the next Environmental Perspectives, we will summarize some of the legal and regulatory issues driving the need for improved valuation of these liabilities, and discuss Exponent’s experience assisting clients in meeting these evolving standards.

Financial regulations have long required the disclosure of environmental liabilities, but recent changes have raised the bar for cost estimations to the “fair value method.” Developing defensible values at complex sites requires an understanding of the cradle-to-grave costs associated with managing impacted properties, and the application of advanced predictive tools.

In other current events, the Supreme Court is considering setting a standard for divisibility that may allow a party to avoid joint Superfund liability. There will be increased benefits in being able to better measure the source contribution of individual facilities and link these to a fair

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New Faces

Ghazal ChilanSenior Scientist—EcoSciencesWashington, DC

Ms. Chilan’s primary areas of expertise include marine pollution control and monitoring, oil spill response, and shoreline cleanup. She has applied her background in chemistry to a variety of environmental monitoring and assessment programs. Ms. Chilan has 6 years of experience with environmental policy making at a regional level, in the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea regions. Her experience includes regulatory compliance investigation and analysis, coastal zone management planning, environmental impact assessment, and consulting on installation of ISO 14001-based environmental management systems. Having an excellent understanding of maritime and marine environment related laws, she has developed compliance strategies for government and private organizations to comply with international, regional, national, and local environmental regulations.

Anne Fairbrother, D.V.M., Ph.D.Senior Managing Scientist—EcoSciencesBellevue, WA

Dr. Anne Fairbrother has more than 30 years of experience in ecotoxicology, contaminated site assessment, and regulatory science for existing and emerging chemicals in the U.S. and Europe. Dr. Fairbrother has published more than 80 peer reviewed articles and book chapters that reflect her expertise in wildlife toxicology, immunotoxicology, endocrine disrupting chemicals, and ecological risk assessment. She serves on numerous scientific boards, expert panels, and editorial boards in support of scientific and regulatory issues. Dr. Fairbrother is a veterinarian and a Certified Wildlife Biologist. She has served as President of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians, and Wildlife Disease Association (WDA). She is the recipient of the WDA Distinguished Service Award (2002), and a gold medal for Commendable Service from EPA. Dr. Fairbrother holds an adjunct professorship at Oregon State University, Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology.

Megan Plumlee, Ph.D.Senior Scientist—Environmental Sciences, Menlo Park, CA

Dr. Plumlee specializes primarily in determining the fate of organic contaminants in natural and engineered environments. Her expertise includes emerging contaminants (perfluorochemicals, N nitrosodimethylamine [NDMA]), wastewater reuse, aquatic photochemistry, and analytical chemistry. Her Ph.D. research focused on photochemical degradation of emerging contaminants in aqueous environments as a result of exposure to natural sunlight. She also has interests in the toxicology of organic contaminants, green chemistry, and regulation of chemicals.

Publications

Ahumada R, Rudolph A, Mudge SM. Trace metals in sediments of Southeast Pacific fjords, North Region (42.5° to 46.5°S). J Environ Monit 2008; 10(2):231–238.

BenKinney MT. How to assess the risk of emerging chemical contaminants in foods. Food Safety Magazine 2008, February/March.

BenKinney MT, Arora A, Swart J. Medical electronic regulations: What does the future hold? SMTA Medical Electronics Symposium, Anaheim, CA, 2008.

Birch GF, Russell AT, Mudge SM. Normalisation techniques in the forensic assessment of contaminated environments. In: Methods in Environmental Forensics. Mudge SM (ed), CRC Press, 2008.

Boehm PD, Page DS, Neff JM. Comments on the misuse of SPMDs in recent articles by Springman et al. (2008a, b) and Short et al. (2008). Mar Environ Res 2009; doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2009.03.005.

Boehm PD, Page DS, Brown JS, Neff JM, Bragg JR, Atlas RM. Distribution and weathering of crude oil residues on shorelines 18 years after the Exxon Valdez spill. Environ Sci Technol 2008; 42:9210–9216.

Booth PN, Salatas, JH, Kaetzel RS, Gard NW, Yost LJ, O’Boyle RA, Mackay CE. Risk assessment as a decision-making tool for treatment of emissions at a new aluminum smelter in Iceland: 1. Background and introduction. J Hum Ecol Risk Assess 2008, in press.

Bravo-Linares C, Mudge SM. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) analysis in water, sediments and soils and their application in environmental forensics. In: Methods in Environmental Forensics, Mudge SM (ed.), CRC Press, 2008.

Deardorff TL, Karch NJ, Holm SE. Dioxin levels in ash and soil generated in southern California fires. Chemosphere, in press.

Ginevan ME, Watkins DK, Ross JH, O’Boyle RA.Assessing exposure to allied ground troops in the Vietnam War: A quantitative evaluation of the Stellman Exposure Opportunity Index model. Chemosphere 2009, Epub ahead of print: doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2009.02.014.

Golden R, Holm SE, Deardorff TL, Kelly CR, Jones W. The consequences of sample preparation methods on the derivation of environmentally relevant ecotoxicology data for two complex mixtures. Bullet Environ Contam Toxicol 2008.

Hall TJ, Fisher RP, Rodgers Jr. JH, Minshall GW, Landis WG, Kovacs T, Firth BK, Dube MG, Deardorff TL. A long-term multi-trophic level study to assess pulp and paper mill effluent discharges on aquatic communities in 4 U.S. receiving waters: Background and status. In press.

Hall TJ, Fisher RP, Rodgers Jr JH, Minshall GW, Landis WG, Kovacs T, Firth BK, Dube MG, Flinders CA, Deardorff TL, Borton DL. A long-term multi-trophic level study to assess pulp and paper mill effluent discharges on aquatic communities in 4 U.S. receiving waters: Lessons learned. Integr Environ Assess Manage 2008.

Johnson KR, Jepson PC, and Jenkins JJ. Esfenvalerate-induced case-abandonment adversely impacts Brachycentrus americanus behavior and survival. Environ Toxicol Chem 2008; 27 (2): 397–403.

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Conferences and Presentations

Bravo-Linares C, Mudge SM. Identifying the sources of halogenated volatile organic compounds in coastal areas. International Environmental Forensics Conference Qingdao, China, May 27–30, 2008.

Booth P, McArdle M, Kane Driscoll S. Application of ecological risk-based approach to the remediation of a former manufacturing plant site. Annual International Conference on Contaminated Soils, Sediments, and Water, Amherst, MA, October 20–23, 2008.

Chan W, Bigham G, Dekermenjian M. Exposure to elemental mercury from a spill. In: Abstracts—11th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, Copenhagen, Denmark, August 17–22, 2008.

Deardorff TL, Holm SE. Heavy metals and other elements found in ash and soil samples following the 2007 southern California fires. Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry North America, 29th Annual Meeting, Tampa, FL, November 16−20, 2008.

Holm SE, Deardorff TL, Karch NJ. The contribution of forest fires to the generation of dioxins and furans in ash and soil. Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry North America, 29th Annual Meeting, Tampa, FL, November 16−20, 2008.

Kane Driscoll S, McArdle M, Menzie C. Assessing risk of metals in sediment: Experience in applying the weight-of-evidence approach to aquatic sites contaminated with heavy metals. Sediment Management Work Group Spring Sponsor Forum, Kalamazoo, MI, April 29−30, 2008.

Kay DP, Newsted JL, BenKinney MT, Iannuzzi TJ, Giesy JP. Passaic river sediment interstitial water Phase I toxicity identification evaluation. Chemosphere 2008; 70:1737–1747.

Mearns AJ, Reish DJ, Oshida PS, Buchman M, Ginn T, Donnelly R. Effects of pollution on marine organisms. Water Environ Res 2008; 80(10):1918–1979.

Menzie CA, Southworth B, Stephenson G, Feisthauer N. The importance of understanding the chemical form of a metal in the environment: The case of barium sulfate (barite). Hum Ecol Risk Asses 2008; 14:5:974–991.

Menzie CA, Law SA, Booth P, von Stackelberg K.Use of decision support systems to address contaminated coastal sediments: experience in the United States. Chapter 14 in: Decision Support Systems for Risk-Based Management of Contaminated Sites. Marcomini, A., Suter II, G.W., Critto, A. (eds.), 2009, ISBN 978-0-387-09721-3. Springer Verlag.

Mohsen F, Ayyaswami A, Bryant M, Lacko P. Numerical simulation of substrate-limited degradation: Comparison to field data. Proc. 6th International Conference on Remediation of Chlorinated and Recalcitrant Compounds, Monterey, CA, May 2008.

Mudge SM. Approaching environmental forensics. In: Methods in Environmental Forensics. Mudge SM (ed), CRC Press, 2008.

Mudge SM. Environmental forensics and the importance of source identification. In: Issues in Environmental Science and Technology. Harrison R (ed), Cambridge, 2008.

Mudge SM. Is the use of biofuels environmentally or ethically sound. J Environ Monit 2008; 10(6):701–702.

Mudge SM. Methods in Environmental Forensics. CRC Press, 2008.

Mudge SM. Multivariate and geo-statistical methods in environ forensics. In: Methods in Environmental Forensics. Mudge SM (ed), CRC Press, 2008.

Mudge SM. Sediment and soil environmental forensics—What do we know? In: Soil Forensics. Ritz K(ed), Springer-Velag, 2008.

Mudge SM, Icely JD, Newton A. Residence times in a hypersaline lagoon: Using salinity as a tracer. Estuarine Coastal Shelf Sci 2008; 77(2):278–284.

Palmquist KR, Jenkins JJ, Jepson PC. Clutch morphology and timing of exposure impact the susceptibility of aquatic insects eggs to esfenvalerate. Environ Toxicol Chem 2008; 27(8):52–59.

Palmquist KR, Jenkins JJ, Jepson PC. Effects of dietary esfenvalerate exposure on three aquatic insects species representing different functional feeding groups. Environ Toxicol Chem 2008; 27(8):8–14.

Palmquist KR, Jenkins JJ, Jepson PC. Impact of aquatic insects life stage and emergence strategy on sensitivity to esfenvalerate exposure. Environ Toxicol Chem 2008; 27(8):1–7.

Plumlee MH, Larabee J, Reinhard M. Perfluorochemicals in water reuse. Chemosphere 2008; 72:1541–1547.

Salatas JH, Booth PN, Gard NW, O’Boyle RA, Mackay CE. Risk assessment as a decision-making tool for treatment of emissions at a new aluminum smelter in Iceland: 3. Ecological assessment. J Hum Ecol Risk Assess, 2008, in press.

Shock SS, Noggle JJ, Bloom N, Yost LJ. Evaluation of potential for mercury volatilization from natural and FGD gypsum products using flux-chamber tests. Environ Sci Technol in press. Epub ahead of print: DOI: 10.1021/es802872n.

Wayland D, Megson DP, Mudge SM, Icely JD, Newton A. Identifying the source of nutrient contamination in a lagoon system. Environ Forensics 2008; 9(2):231–239.

Ziccardi L, McArdle M, Lowney Y. The ecological effects of nanomaterials: A focus on aquatic life. Special Issue on Applications of Nanotechnologies in Environmental Protection and Pollution, Part 1. Schulte J, Vaseashta A (eds), NANO: Brief Reports and Reviews 2008; 3(4):251–255.

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O’Reilly K, Pietari J, Thorsen W, Hoelen T. Using decision support tools to evaluate TPH field test kits. 19th Annual AEHS West Coast Conference on Soils, Sediments, and Water, San Diego, CA, March 11, 2009.

O’Reilly K. Opportunities and obstacles for reducing biotreatment endpoints for oil contaminated soils. Presented at Petroleum Environmental Research Forum 2008 Remediation Workshop. Berkeley, CA, September 4, 2008.

O’Reilly K, Boehm P, Johns M. Technical approaches for apportioning liability and allocating environmental costs. Webinar. December 10, 2008.

O’Reilly K, Boehm P, Johns M. An examination of technical aspects of CERCLA apportionment. Presented at Technology Roundtable, ABA Environment, Energy, and Resources Law Summit. Phoenix, AZ, September 18, 2008.

O’Reilly K, Boehm P, Johns M. Technical approaches for apportioning liability and allocating environmental costs. ABA Environmental, Energy, and Resources Law Summit, 16th Fall Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, September 18, 2008.

O’Reilly K, Thorsen W, Pietari J. Strategic site assessment: Tools for managing data uncertainty. Presented at Chevron Remediation Technology Training. San Luis Obispo, CA, September 17, 2008.

O’Reilly K, Thorsen W, Shea, D. Appropriate use of oil/water partitioning coefficients in assessing soils and sediments. Presented at Petroleum Environmental Research Forum 2008 Remediation Workshop. Berkeley, CA, September 4, 2008.

Pietari J, Whipple W. Interlaboratory comparison of performance based methods for PCB congener analysis from sediments. Oral presentation, US EPA Laboratory Technical Information Group Meeting Denver, CO, April 7–11, 2008.

Plumlee MH, Larabee J, Reinhard M. PFOS, PFOA, and other perfluorinated surfactant residues in recycled water. 12th Annual Water Reuse and Desalination Research Conference, Denver, CO, May 2008.

Loyola R, Lopez G, Muñoz J, Bravo-Linares C, Mudge SM. Trihalomethane formation in drinking water supply system of Concepción and Talcahuano, Chile. International Environmental Forensics Conference Qingdao, China, May 27–30, 2008.

McArdle ME, Booth PN, Kane Driscoll S. Benefits of using site-specific measurements and innovative approaches in an ecological risk assessment. Annual International Conference on Contaminated Soils, Sediments, and Water. Amherst, MA, October 20–23, 2008.

Mesard PM, Deardorff TL. Stormwater management during construction—A technical perspective. Proceedings, American Bar Association’s Toxic Tort Environmental Law Section, Scottsdale, AZ, 2008.

Montgomery RH. Safety and health, finance and international development: The three “do” meet. Keynote presentation at Annual National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety Awards Ceremony. Cincinnati, OH, May 1, 2008.

Mudge SM. Multivariate statistical techniques in environmental forensics. Workshop Presentation, SETAC World Congress, Sydney, Australia, August 2008.

Mudge SM. Separating natural from anthropogenic. International Environmental Forensics Conference Qingdao, China, May 27–30, 2008.

Mudge SM, Eadsforth C. Fingerprinting of fatty alcohols in environmental samples. Poster Presentation at SETAC World Congress, Sydney, Australia, August 2008.

Mudge SM, Munoz J, Loyola R, Bravo-Linares C, Carbezas C, Vasquez L. It’s not all recent! Separating old from new in a Chilean oil spill. International Environmental Forensics Conference Qingdao, China, May 27–30, 2008.

Murphy B, O’Reilly K. Reconstructing doses and exposures using environmental forensic methods. 37th Conference on Environmental Law, ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, Keystone, CO, March 13, 2008.

Ziccardi L, McArdle M, Lowney Y. The ecological effects of nanomaterials. Presented at nanoECO, Monte Verità, Switzerland, March 2–7, 2008.

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A P U B L I C A T I O N O F E X P O N E N T ’ S E N V I R O N M E N T A L A N D E C O S C I E N C E S P R A C T I C E SENVIRONMENTAL P E R S P E C T I V E S

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Environmental & Earth Sciences

• AirQuality

• Bioavailability&ExposureAssessment

• ChemicalFate&Transport

• ContaminatedSedimentsAssessment&Management

• EnvironmentalChemistry&Geochemistry

• EnvironmentalCostConsulting

• EnvironmentalEngineering

• EnvironmentalForensics

• Geochemical&OperationalConsulting

• GreenhouseGas&ClimateChange

• Hydrogeology

• Management&Recycling/Solid&HazardousWastes,Including Landfills

• OilSpillAssessment

• ProductStewardship

• SiteInvestigation&RemediationConsulting

• SurfaceWaterContaminantTransport

• TechnicalSupportServicestoFinancialTransactions

For more information on other Exponent capabilities, please visit our website, www.exponent.com.

To learn more about Exponent’s Ecological, and Environmental capabilities listed below, click here.

Ecological & Biological Sciences

• Aquatic&TerrestrialBiology

• Bioavailability&ExposureAssessment

• ContaminatedSedimentsAssessment&Management

• Ecological&EnvironmentalRiskAssessment

• Eco-Sustainability&EcologicalServicesAssessment

• EndangeredSpecies

• EnvironmentalAssessmentofTechnologies&Products

• EnvironmentalModeling&RiskAssessment

• Geospatial&LandscapeAnalysis

• NaturalResourceDamageAssessment

• OilSpillAssessment

• ProductStewardship

• WetlandsAssessment&Construction

Contact: Paul D. Boehm, Ph.D.Principal Scientist and Group Vice President, Environmental Group

(978) 461-1220

pboehm@exponent.com

About ExponentExponent is a leading engineering and scientific consulting firm dedicated to providing solutions to complex problems.

Please visit our website, www.exponent.com, for information on all of our consulting services.

CreditsContributing writers: Charles Menzie, Ph.D.,Robin Cantor, Ph.D., Julian Levy, Sheryl Law Paul Boehm, Ph.D.Editor: Patti WardenDesign/Layout: Betty Dowd

Feedback: Tell us what you like about this issue, or how we can help you.

(888) 656-EXPO info@exponent.com with 19 regional and 4 international offices

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