Case Studies
Our client, an owner of an industrial parcel in Livingston, NJ, received a request from its contiguous neighbor to enter its property to install and sample monitoring wells. The request was viewed as suspicious by the client, as it appeared the neighbor’s motivation was to look for a contributing source of contamination discovered in soil and groundwater beneath the neighbor’s property. The neighbor’s request indicated it was not looking for an off-site source; rather, it was simply complying with NJDEP regulations to delineate contamination migrating away from the neighbor property.
We were retained by the client to review and respond to the neighbor’s request for access. After attempts to amicably deny the neighbor’s request, the neighbor sued our client in NJ Superior Court to obtain access to install and sample the wells. Subsequently, we prepared a certification describing the lack of regulations requiring the neighbor to perform any work on the client parcel. The neighbor’s LSRP prepared a rebuttal certification, and the matter proceeded to a hearing at NJ Superior Court. At the initial hearing the judge did not grant the neighbor/plaintiff access and instead required submission of expert reports and depositions and a follow-up hearing including testimony from the opposing experts. Within the certification, deposition, and at the hearing, we provided testimony that the plaintiff’s requested activities were neither reasonable nor necessary and we provided lengthy technical and regulatory details to support this position. The judge ruled in favor of our client (the defendant), cited our testimony as being “more credible” than testimony provided by the plaintiff’s expert, and noted that this matter was a case of first impression as there was no precedent case on which to rely.
Michael J. Novak, LSRP
Senior Vice President
Environmental, Health & Safety
+1 551 355 6287
[email protected]
> Environmental Investigation & Remediation Services
We deliver turnkey environmental investigation and remediation services that cover all aspects of environmental risk and cleanup. Our approach combines the specialized expertise of our consultants – in both environmental investigation and remediation – to provide clients with an integrated, sustainable solution that addresses project-specific considerations to resolve environmental issues and achieve regulatory closure.
> Environmental, Health & Safety
Our EH&S consultants provide specialized expertise in environmental damage and remediation, environmental due diligence, energy transition, toxicology and epidemiology, industrial hygiene, product stewardship and product liability, and human health and safety.