MEC&F Expert Engineers : 06/20/16

Monday, June 20, 2016

LODD: the Chief of the Severn Volunteer Fire Department in Northampton County (NC) died Saturday after assisting with a car crash


FIRE CHIEF LODD FOLLOWING A CRASH RESPONSE

June 20, 2016



We regret to pass on to you that the Chief of the Severn Volunteer Fire Department in Northampton County (NC) died Saturday after assisting with a car crash.

Fire Chief Kevin Britt, 54, suffered a medical emergency at his home around midnight shortly after responding to an emergency call involving a car that had crashed into a light pole. Chief Britt was a Firefighter with the Severn Volunteer Fire Department, near the North Carolina-Virginia border, for more than 30 years. His son, Joshua Britt, also serves on the department.

Funeral arrangements for Chief Britt are pending.

Our condolences to all those affected. R.I.P.

A sagging power line from a crash shocked an Erie (PA) police officer who was investigating that crash





POLICE OFFICER ELECTRICAL SHOCK AT CRASH SCENE-FIREFIGHTERS ON SCENE AS WELL

June 20, 2016    



A sagging power line from a crash shocked an Erie (PA) police officer who was investigating that crash this morning.


The officer and a motorist injured in the crash went to hospital. The incident happened shortly before 0930 when a sedan crashed into a utility pole off the east side of the road, shearing the pole and causing power lines to sag.

The police officer and firefighters were on the scene investigating the accident when a northbound tractor-trailer caught some of the low-hanging wires and a line touched the officer, shocking him. Police said the officer was conscious and alert when he was taken to the hospital.

A firefighter was injured battling a 3-alarm blaze in Newton, Massachusetts


June 20, 2016



Newton, Mass.

A firefighter was injured battling a 3-alarm blaze in Newton, Massachusetts, on Monday afternoon.

The fire was first reported at 16 Merrill Rd. around 1:30 p.m. It appears to have started in the attic.

Newton Fire Lt. Eric Fricke said all of the occupants were able to escape safely. He said one firefighter was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

The fire department said the flames were difficult to reach due to the slate shingle roof on the home.



Firefighters are battling a 3-alarm blaze in Newton, Massachusetts, on Monday afternoon. (Published 52 minutes ago)

Ward Street was temporarily closed eastbound at Nobscot and Hammond Street was closed northbound at Commonwealth Avenue due to the fire. Motorists were urged to avoid the area.

JSB Industries, Inc., a Food Processor in Chelsea & Lawrence Mass. to Provide Emergency Response Equipment to Communities Under a Settlement with EPA and DOJ


06/20/2016
Contact Information: 
David Deegan (deegan.dave@epa.gov)
617-918-1017
 
BOSTON. MASS. – Subject to court approval, a wholesale bakery and distribution company with facilities in Chelsea and Lawrence, Mass. will purchase equipment for emergency responders and pay a cash penalty, settling allegations by EPA that the company violated federal environmental laws relating to the use of anhydrous ammonia and sulfuric acid at the two facilities.
 

Under a Consent Decree filed today, JSB Industries, Inc. has agreed to pay $156,000 in civil penalties and provide emergency response equipment expected to cost $119,000 to fire departments in Chelsea and Lawrence. The Consent Decree resolves claims in a Complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of EPA simultaneously with the Consent Decree, including failure to comply with accident prevention and mitigation provisions of the Clean Air Act, hazardous chemical reporting requirements of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, and chemical release notification requirements of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.
 

The Chelsea and Lawrence facilities are in densely populated, urban neighborhoods, in close proximity to residences and other businesses. Among other things, EPA alleged that violations occurred at JSB's Chelsea facility where, in April 2009, approximately 2,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia was accidentally released from a refrigeration system there. Anhydrous ammonia is an extremely hazardous chemical that is corrosive to skin, eyes, and lungs, can be immediately dangerous to life and health, and under certain conditions, is flammable and explosive. The 2009 Chelsea release exposed two firefighters to anhydrous ammonia, one of whom was hospitalized for medical treatment and triggered a shelter-in-place order by local authorities.
 

"Facilities that use hazardous substances, including anhydrous ammonia and sulfuric acid, have an obligation to carefully follow safety standards designed to protect nearby communities," said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA's New England office. "This case illustrates the importance of complying with chemical accident planning, prevention and mitigation requirements, and underscores the critical role played by community right-to-know laws in helping prevent public health or environment harm from the release of hazardous chemicals and other potentially dangerous conditions resulting from chemical use."
 

The alleged violations include JSB’s failure to comply with the "general duty clause" of the Clean Air Act under which facilities using hazardous chemicals must identify hazards, design and maintain the facility in a safe manner by taking action to prevent accidental releases, and take steps to minimize the consequences of any accidental releases that do occur. Other violations alleged in the Complaint include the failure to notify national and state emergency response authorities about the ammonia release and failure to submit hazardous chemical inventory forms to state and local emergency response agencies.
 

The emergency response equipment to be provided under the settlement will enhance the Chelsea and Lawrence communities' emergency preparedness and improve their abilities to effectively respond to the release of hazardous chemicals. The equipment will help these communities better protect their residents and workers, many of whom are members of low-income and minority groups that may be disproportionately affected by the risks of environmental contamination. Among other things, the equipment provided under the settlement will help improve Chelsea's and Lawrence's abilities to rescue their citizens from environmental hazards, isolate and remove water contaminants, monitor and detect hazardous conditions, gain entry to confined spaces, and clean and maintain protective gear.
 

Failure to submit chemical inventory forms can put emergency responders at risk by withholding information regarding the presence and amounts of hazardous chemicals at a facility. EPA alleged that prior to the 2009 release, JSB failed to inform emergency response officials as required about its use of ammonia at the Chelsea facility. In this case, the failure to report may have substantially increased the risks of the release because the fire fighters who first arrived at the scene appear to have been completely unaware of the presence of ammonia at that location.
 

JSB is a family-owned company that does business as "Muffin Town." JSB operates out of its headquarters at 130 Crescent Street in Chelsea and from a newer facility at 309 Andover Street in Lawrence. The Chelsea facility is owned by 130 Crescent Ave. Realty Trust and the Lawrence facility is owned by JMG Andover Street Realty, LLC, both of which are closely affiliated with JSB President Jack Anderson. Under the terms of the Consent Decree, the defendants do not admit liability for the violations alleged by the government. 
 
While JSB continues to use sulfuric acid (a regulated chemical) in heavy equipment batteries at its Chelsea and Lawrence locations, the company did remove the ammonia-based refrigeration system in Chelsea and replaced it, in 2012, with a less inherently dangerous nitrogen-based unit.

More information:

A pod of Orcas were spotted hunting a sea lion southwest of Heceta Head




U.S. Coast Guard Sector North Bend
June 18 at 10:24pm ·


A pod of Orcas were spotted hunting a sea lion southwest of Heceta Head by a North Bend helicopter today. In a dramatic display of coordination and strength, the pod wrangled this sea lion to the surface, using their massive tails to slap and stun their prey. It was apparent the two adults used restraint as the smaller, and probably younger, Orcas practiced their hunting techniques.

As our helicopter crew discussed, this was likely one of the most remarkable things we have ever seen from the air. Thankfully, we brought the good camera on today's flight.


A truck collided with a tractor on highway 20 in Waterloo, IA


Truck, tractor accident on Hwy 20 in Waterloo

Written by Madelyne Rosenberg, KWWL Internet Director
 Jun 20, 2016 12:29 PM EST








WATERLOO, IA (KWWL) -

A truck collided with a tractor on highway 20 near Ansborough Ave this morning.

Police and fire crews are on the scene, with no word as to what caused the truck driver to collide with the tractor.

The person driving the tractor is unharmed and the truck driver is being questioned.

This is a developing story. Stay with KWWL for updates.

Vandals slashed the tires on dozens of vehicles at six different parking lots along West Street Road in Warminster, PA


Vandals slash 99 tires at 6 Bucks County businesses

 


Surveillance video from Lafferty Chevrolet shows what appears to be one person meticulously going between their fleet of trucks. (WPVI)

By
Annie McCormick


Monday, June 20, 2016 12:17PM

WARMINSTER, Pa. (WPVI) -- Police are investigating a destructive vandalism spree that targeted several businesses in Bucks County.

Someone slashed the tires on dozens of vehicles at six different parking lots along West Street Road in Warminster.

Surveillance video from Lafferty Chevrolet shows what appears to be one person meticulously going between their fleet of trucks.

The suspect targeted at least 37 trucks and slashed 99 tires.

"It was done very quickly - only 3 or 4 minutes, if that," said Joe Taber of Lafferty.

The video shows one suspect, but police are ruling out the possibility that more are responsible.

The price tag in damage at Lafferty is more than $20,000.

York Road Auto Glass's parking lot had seven vehicles with tire damage.

"I'm going to pay for the ones in my lot, yes," said York's Bill Primose. "I can't tell a customer, 'Your car was left here for work. By the way, you need four tires.' It has to come out of my pocket."

Up and down Street Road at least six businesses were affected.

Coffman's Service is another one, as is Tires Plus.

At Hertz Rental and Sales they discovered the damage Saturday morning, and the on-site auto service shop had to work quickly.

"A big inconvenience, especially if the car is sold and the customer is put off buying it," said Robert Montgomery.

The vandalism happened between midnight and 4 a.m.

Warminster Police say they continue to receive calls, and they are continuing to gather complaints. So the number of victims is expected to rise.

They are asking anyone with information to reach out to them.

You can remain anonymous and call police headquarters, use Facebook or dial 911.




3 injured, after a crane collapsed at the Exxon Mobil Refinery in Torrance, California


Crane collapses at Exxon Mobil Refinery in Torrance




A crane collapsed at the Exxon Mobil Refinery in Torrance on Monday, June 20, 2016.

Updated 41 mins ago
TORRANCE, Calif. (KABC) -- A crane collapsed at the Exxon Mobil Refinery in Torrance on Monday.

The accident occurred at around 9:30 a.m. Refinery officials said on-site emergency crews are handling the incident, and the appropriate agencies have been notified.

Three contractors were taken to a local clinics to be evaluated for minor injuries, a refinery spokesperson said.

Refinery officials said the incident will not have an impact to the community.

Torrance police said there is flaring at the refinery to safely stabilize operations.

The company said it is cooperating with local authorities to determine the cause of the collapse.

62 people have been charged by the New Jersey Attorney General's office for fraud related to Superstorm Sandy since 2014.







 
62 now charged with Superstorm Sandy-related fraud
 

Updated 56 mins ago
TRENTON, N.J. (WABC) -- A total of 62 people have been charged by the New Jersey Attorney General's office for fraud related to Superstorm Sandy since 2014.

The number went up by five last week when charges were announced against four New Jersey residents and one Philadelphia woman.

Nikola Lulaj, 42, of Seaside Heights, N.J., Rachel Bryant, 53, of Philadelphia, and Gordon Sinclair, 40, of Summit, N.J. are accused of submitting claims for homes that were not primary places of residence.

Pat G. Angelastro, 46, of Ortley Beach, N.J., is accused of submitting a claim for a primary residence he did not own.

Catherine Alvira-Przybylski, 45, of Keyport, N.J., is accused of obtaining financial for expenses she never incurred.

"Each of these defendants knew the requirements to qualify for this disaster aid, but each selfishly lied about their circumstances to steal funding intended for those hardest hit by Sandy, namely homeowners who were left homeless and displaced renters forced to pay for new leases," said Acting Attorney General Robert Lougy in a statement.

The Attorney General's Office says it investigates Sandy fraud in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and the Offices of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

New towing vessel regulations establishing new requirements for the design, construction, onboard equipment and operation of towing vessels


Coast Guard announces new towing vessel regulations, Subchapter M
Jun 20th, 2016 

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard announced Monday new towing vessel regulations establishing new requirements for the design, construction, onboard equipment and operation of towing vessels.

These regulations, which were developed over time with input from the Towing Safety Advisory Committee (TSAC) and the towing vessel industry, will be incorporated into Title 46 of the Code of Federal Regulations as the new Subchapter M.

The Maritime Transportation Act of 2004 reclassified towing vessels as vessels subject to inspection and authorized the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to establish requirements for a safety management system appropriate for the characteristics, methods of operation and the unique nature of towing vessels. These requirements make up Subchapter M.

These regulations become effective July 20, 2016. As provided in these regulations, certain regulations are phased-in over time and existing towing vessels will have an additional two years before having to comply with most of the requirements. With certain exceptions, these regulations apply to U.S.-flag towing vessels 26 feet or more in length and those less than 26 feet moving barges carrying oil or hazardous material in bulk. The rule lays out new compliance options as well as new equipment, construction and operational requirements for towing vessels.

To provide flexibility, vessel operators will have the choice of two inspection options: the traditional Coast Guard inspection option and the new Towing Safety Management System (TSMS) option. Under the TSMS option, routine audits and surveys of towing vessels will primarily be performed by Coast Guard-approved third-party organizations (TPOs), including certain classification societies, and this rule creates framework for oversight and audits of such TPOs by the Coast Guard.

To read the complete final rule, view the entire Federal Register announcement.

2 million concussions from sports or play activities occur in U.S. children and teens each year and many receive no treatment


Nearly 2 million concussions in kids' sports, play yearly?



Posted: Mon 6:41 AM, Jun 20, 2016


CHICAGO (AP) - A new study says nearly 2 million concussions from sports or play activities occur in U.S. children and teens each year and many receive no treatment.

The estimate is based on 2013 data from hospitals, doctors' offices, high schools and information from previous concussion studies.

The study led by pediatrician Dr. Mersine Bryan of Seattle Children's Hospital, involved kids age 18 and younger and is in Monday's journal Pediatrics.

But researchers say the numbers are imprecise, highlighting the need for a concussion surveillance system as recommended by the Institute of Medicine, a nonprofit group that advises the government on public health issues.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to create a system to track concussion rates and trends in children and adults.

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Justice Department Finds that Nevada Discriminates Against Inmates with HIV and Inmates with Other Disabilities


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 20, 2016
Justice Department Finds that Nevada Discriminates Against Inmates with HIV and Inmates with Other Disabilities


The Justice Department issued a letter of findings today concluding that the Nevada Department of Corrections’ (NDOC) policies and practices for housing and employing inmates with disabilities violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Following a comprehensive ADA compliance review, the department found that NDOC’s discriminatory practices have resulted in the illegal segregation and stigmatization of inmates with HIV and the incarceration of inmates with disabilities for longer periods, in more restrictive settings, than inmates without disabilities.

The department’s letter makes three principal findings. First, NDOC segregates inmates with HIV through a policy prohibiting the housing of inmates with HIV in the same cells as inmates who do not have HIV. Second, NDOC denies inmates with HIV equal employment opportunities. Third, NDOC denies inmates with various disabilities, including those with mobility disabilities, HIV or certain other medical or mental health conditions, equal opportunities to benefit from the programs offered at two of NDOC’s lowest-custody facilities –its conservation camps and transitional-housing facilities.

The department found that these discriminatory practices have the following effects: 


NDOC’s segregation of inmates with HIV stigmatizes them while indiscriminately disclosing their confidential HIV status to NDOC employees and inmates. This segregation policy is without any legitimate health justification, as leading public health and correctional authorities, including the National Commission on Correctional Health Care, oppose the routine segregation of inmates with HIV as medically unnecessary [external link]


Inmates who work in NDOC prisons, and those who are housed in conservation camps or transitional-housing facilities, can earn “work credits” to reduce the lengths of their sentences. By denying inmates with HIV equal employment opportunities, and by denying inmates with disabilities equal opportunities to benefit from the services, programs and activities available to inmates at conservation camps and transitional-housing facilities, NDOC deprives inmates with disabilities of equal opportunities to engage in productive activities and to accelerate their NDOC release dates. 


By denying inmates with disabilities equal opportunities to obtain placement at its lower-custody and lower-security facilities, NDOC confines them in more restrictive settings than they otherwise would be housed.

“The ADA’s promises of non-discriminatory treatment and equal opportunity apply to all people with disabilities, including inmates at correctional facilities,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “No inmate should have to stay in segregated housing because of a HIV diagnosis or serve a longer sentence because of a disability. Real and lasting reform in Nevada will require not only systemic changes to its policies, practices and procedures, but also a commitment to address unfounded stereotypes, fears and assumptions about individuals with disabilities.”

The department commends Nevada for its cooperation with this ADA compliance review and will continue to work closely with NDOC and Nevada’s Office of the Attorney General to resolve the department’s findings expeditiously and under mutually-agreeable terms.

To read the full findings letter, please visit www.ada.gov. For more information about the ADA, call the department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (TDD 800-514-0383) or visit www.ada.gov.

Nevada Department of Corrections

Since 2014, nearly half of public drinking wells and scores of private wells in Horsham, Warminster, and Warrington have been shut down because of foam chemical contamination. Navy personnel used the firefighting foam at hundreds of bases


Tainted: How Navy Bases Contaminated Pa. Drinking Water
Posted on June 20, 2016 by Sheryl Barr

Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 20, 2016
By: Justine McDaniel and Laura McCrystal

When the planes burned, the kids would come out.

Hope Grosse and her siblings would run down their Warminster street and rubberneck amid shrieking sirens. They would watch Navy firefighters shoot a dense white foam from hoses, smothering the flames that leap up from the fenced-off lot.

When the blackened plane was cool, the children would climb the fence and jump into the burned-out cockpit, pretending to be pilots, Grosse recounted.

The plane, and the field where the Navy conducted drills, was also a playground for the Kirk Road kids back in the 1970s and ’80s. They did not know then that the firefighting foam could be toxic, or that it would seep into their drinking water.

Now Grosse wonders, like at least hundreds of others in Bucks and Montgomery Counties: Have we been poisoned?

For decades, Navy personnel used the firefighting foam at hundreds of bases. Now they know that it contained chemicals linked to cancers, and that those chemicals flowed through the groundwater, into wells, and out of the faucets of thousands of residents in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Two former bases just north of Philadelphia have become the first Navy sites linked to drinking water tainted by these chemicals. As the Department of Defense investigates others across the country, what happens here could help shape the response nationwide.

Since 2014, nearly half of public drinking wells and scores of private wells in Horsham, Warminster, and Warrington have been shut down because of contamination. Some homeowners may have to use bottled water for up to a year; others have switched to bottled by choice.

Public awareness and alarm spiked last month when federal regulators issued new and stricter water quality standards that called into question drinking water that had previously been deemed safe.

Lawmakers now say the federal government should arrange blood screenings for nearly 70,000 residents. The Navy alone has already spent $19 million on its investigation and cleanup, which could take 20 years or longer. The Air Force, also involved, has dedicated $8.3 million so far.

Officials say the public wells still operating in and around the former stations in Warminster and Willow Grove meet today’s safety standards.

But no one can tell residents how much toxic water they may have gulped down in the decades before the issue came to light — or if today’s definition of safe may change again.

“I drank it for 25 years,” said Grosse, 51, a mother of two who now lives in Lansdale, about 15 miles from her childhood home. “How long is it going to take to get out of my body?”

An uncertain risk

Growing up, summer nights for Grosse often meant running around with neighborhood children or playing in a creek until her mother rang a cowbell to call them home.

The Grosse family lived next to the former Naval Air Warfare Center in Warminster, a once-thriving 800-acre installation that closed in 1996 amid a wave of military cutbacks. It has since been redeveloped with a park, houses, and businesses.

A few miles away in Horsham, the former Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove has sat nearly lifeless since 2011, awaiting its own redevelopment. The water contamination there has stalled a nearly $1 billion project to turn the 860-acre site into a community hub with houses, a school, and a retirement community.

The bases once teemed with thousands of pilots, personnel, and civilian employees, boosting area businesses and providing impromptu air shows as planes roared in the skies.

Both also housed large tanks filled with the chemicals to make the firefighting foam.

Hangar 175 at Willow Grove once sheltered four planes at a time but now sits vacant and ghostly. Inside, bright red cannons ring the perimeter, each connected to pipes that pumped the foam to the hangar.

The substance, like others used on site, included chemicals called perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), including PFOA and PFOS. PFCs were used for decades not just in the foams, but in non-stick cookware, clothing, furniture fabric, packaging, and carpeting.

The EPA said it began looking into the chemicals in 2000. Since then, more dangers of PFCs have come to light, largely out of a lawsuit against DuPont, which used them in its products.

By 2009, federal environmental regulators had set a “safe” limit of PFCs for drinking water.

Still, most Americans had no clue.

“It should have been on people’s radar for testing drinking water long before this,” said Richard Clapp, a professor emeritus at the Boston University School of Public Health who served as an expert witness for lawsuits against DuPont. “If it gets into the ground and rainwater brings it into the water table, it’s going to be there.”

The major PFOA manufacturers agreed under an EPA program to phase it out by 2015. But the chemicals had already reached water and bloodstreams.

At Willow Grove, the foam was used as recently as 2010. Some contamination occurred when fire suppression systems went off, releasing the foam. Navy reports describe hundreds of gallons going into sewage drains in some of these instances.

The Navy first understood the possible contamination risk from the foam in 2011 but”generally thought it was probably OK,” said Gregory C. Preston, a Base Closure and Realignment Commission program director for this region. As it has done with other hazardous chemicals, he said, the Navy planned to examine the potential impact.

Only later did officials realize the compounds spread through groundwater “a lot more quickly” than expected, he said.

Scientists say the chemicals would have been seeping into the water supply for decades — for as long as the foams were in use, said Charles Haas, a Drexel University environmental engineering professor.

Navy tests detected PFOA and PFOS in groundwater at Willow Grove and Warminster in 2011, 2012, and 2013.

After the first Warminster sample, state and federal environmental regulators said “no follow-up action” was needed. The bases were already closed.

It was not until state officials separately saw signs of the chemicals in the public supply, in 2014, that three wells in Warminster were shut down. Later that year, wells in Horsham and Warrington were also shut down.

The EPA began sampling private wells, going door-to-door, and mailing fact sheets.

Tom Quinn and his wife got such a notice in 2014. They were unsettled but kept drinking the water. Now, despite being hooked up to a public well that officials say is safe, the Warminster family of four is using bottled water.

Quinn recalled the mixed messages he heard from one official.

“It’s like, ‘Everything’s fine, everything’s fine, everything’s fine,’ ” he said. But then, about using the water for baby formula, he said they were told: “No — just in case.”

Stricter guidelines

Last month, the EPA released stricter water-quality guidelines based on studies that linked the chemicals and health problems including testicular and kidney cancers, liver damage, thyroid disease, and high cholesterol.

Sixteen of 36 public wells, serving an area with nearly 83,000 residents, have tested above the acceptable limit and been shut off, according to municipal data.

In the three townships, one-third of 342 homes with private wells have tested positive for unacceptable contamination. The EPA has identified about an additional 120 private wells for testing, but is awaiting residents’ permission. The agency concedes there could be even more, but there is no complete database of private wells.

The Navy and the Air Force — which now operates an Air National Guard station on a small piece of the former Willow Grove base — will pay to switch households on tainted private wells to the public supply.

That could take up to a year.

Martin and Mary Kate Brockhorn have relied on private well water since moving to their Horsham home in 2009.

Two years ago, federal regulators had tested their well and told the couple the water was safe.

But last month, the Brockhorns got another call from their EPA contractor. The contamination threshold had changed, he told them, “and your well’s been above it the entire time.”

Now, they have 20 cases of bottled water delivered every two weeks.

Making contacts

Social media have helped connect dozens of people who lived or worked in the affected areas. Many share stories of cancer.

“Everyone that has any kind of ailment thinks it’s from this water,” said Jim McCusker, who moved to Warrington 10 years ago. “It’s hysteria.”

It is difficult to definitively link cancer in a person to a specific chemical. But ties between some cancers and the perfluorinated compounds, along with what residents view as unusually high reports of cancer in their neighborhoods, have spooked locals.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health and federal agencies are analyzing cancer data for the area; results are expected this summer.

Beth Blumenthal of Horsham was found to have uterine cancer in 2008. Her husband had colon cancer two years earlier, and they knew two neighbors with breast cancer. She said she does not necessarily believe the naval air station caused their illnesses, but hearing about the water contamination made her pause.

“I just thought it’s strange,” she said. “I didn’t think about it until it started coming out, the cancer-causing agents.”

Along with worries, frustration has spread swiftly.

Hundreds attended two open house information sessions in Horsham last month, but many left disappointed.

Residents waited in throngs to speak with officials from several agencies set up at separate tables. Some hoping for a presentation to the crowd said they did not get enough answers from one-on-one conversations.

Preston, coordinating Navy response, said he understands frustration. “We’ll have as many hearings and as many sessions as we need to,” he said.

Seeking action

State Rep. Todd Stephens (R., Montgomery) lives in Horsham. His family now drinks only bottled water. He started pressing for state action earlier this year after hearing from constituents.

“There’s a false sense of security, I think, that many residents feel,” Stephens said. “And I was guilty of this too, for a period of time. You feel like, OK, the EPA is handling it. So they would never let water that would be harmful come out of our faucets, right?”

Several lawmakers have asked the Navy to fund blood tests for nearly 70,000 residents of Horsham, Warminster, and Warrington. To test only half would cost about $7 million, Gov. Wolf’s office said. A congressional subcommittee said Wednesday it sees Pennsylvania as a model and will work to fund health screenings.

As monitoring continues, the Defense Department has also begun groundwater testing and treatment at more than 660 other sites.

Three Philadelphia-area members of Congress whose districts touch the bases — Republicans Patrick Meehan and Mike Fitzpatrick and Democrat Brendan Boyle — have pressed the Navy for information. Boyle has called for a congressional hearing.

Some residents are considering legal action. On Tuesday, attorneys for a Warrington family said they had filed a notice of intent to sue the Navy and federal government. Another firm began this month investigating the issue on behalf of residents.

Officials involved in the cleanup, meanwhile, call it a coordinated effort.

The Navy and the Air Force have contracted with water authorities and are paying for cleanup, including private well transfers and filtration systems for offline wells.

The Navy has installed 32 more monitoring wells at Willow Grove in an effort to determine the extent of how far the contamination has spread. It also is working on a long-term plan to contain the chemicals and treat groundwater.

The goal is to make sure every well stays below the EPA threshold, which means chemicals are present but deemed safe to drink — unless guidelines change again.

Some residents are not waiting for the government to act.

Hope Grosse is attempting a health survey of as many current and former residents as she can find. She, herself, was diagnosed with melanoma at 26.

As she stood last week in the backyard of her childhood home, an idyllic place surrounded by shady oaks, kids played at the playground down the street where the base once stood and a runway still remains.

“There’s a lot of whys I have, a lot of questions,” she said. “My brain just gets blown up the more I think about it.”

MGP Site remediation costs are generally recoverable from customers through rate mechanisms approved by regulators.


N.J. gas customers foot the bill for millions in environmental damages
Posted on June 20, 2016 by Sheryl Barr

Source: http://www.nj.com, June 20, 2016
By: Greg Wright

State energy companies are currently responsible for up to $1 billion in environmental damages, according to companies’ filings with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.

It’s common practice for companies to recover a portion of the cost of environmental damages by increasing customers’ rates through regulator approved rate increases, filings show.

The feature is made possible through a Board of Public Utilities policy called a Remediation Adjustment Clause (RAC).

RACs allows a company to adjust its rates to recover environmental costs associated with cleanup of manufactured gas plant sites.

“In the 1980s, the state directed all utilities to assess potential impacts at Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) sites, and in the 1990s, the BPU established a Remediation Adjustment Clause to enable New Jersey’s utilities to recover approved remediation costs,” said Michael Kinney, spokesman for New Jersey Resources.

The four New Jersey gas suppliers — New Jersey Resources, PSE&G, AGL Resources, and South Jersey Gas — all make use of RACs to procure millions of dollars worth of damages to pay for cleanup efforts.

The companies all have an interest in the proposed PennEast Pipeline project.

AGL Resources is the parent company of Elizabethtown Gas. New Jersey Resources owns New Jersey Natural Gas.

The filings, 10-K reports, show New Jersey Natural Gas is responsible for $150.9 million to $242.1 million worth of environmental remediation at five MGPs which contain contaminated residues from former gas manufacturing operations that ceased by the mid-1950s, according to the company’s filing.

“New Jersey Natural Gas is currently recovering from customers approximately $8.5 million annually,” the filing says, “and will continue to seek recovery of these costs through its remediation rider.”

“Manufactured gas was primarily used in the 1800s,” Kinney said. “The last MGP used to supply residential consumers ceased operations by the mid-1960s.”

“The remediation of MGPs is a legacy issue for gas utilities across the country, including New Jersey,” said Kinney.

AGL Resources lists six New Jersey sites with estimates of $115 million to $195 million in damages. Those sites are associated with disposal or release of substances at current and former operating sites — much of which is related to former MGP sites.

Their filing notes that, “remediation costs are generally recoverable from customers through rate mechanisms approved by regulators.”

“We primarily recover these deferred costs through three rate riders that authorize dollar-for-dollar recovery. We expect to collect $31 million in revenues over the next 12 months,” says the filing. “We recovered $40 million in 2015, $51 million in 2014 and $24 million in 2013.”

South Jersey Gas is responsible for 12 sites where they or their predecessors operated MGP sites up until the 1950s. Estimates for ongoing cleanup costs range from $124.3 million to $223.3 million – also recoverable through rate adjustments.

Since implementing their RAC in 1992, the company has recovered $106.1 million. From 2012 to 2014 the company recovered an average of $8 million per in increased rates.

Energy giant PSE&G maintains 38 former sites requiring some level of remedial action.

“PSE&G has determined that the estimated cost to remediate all MGP sites to completion could range between $431 million and $499 million,” according to their filing.

In August 2015, the BPU approved PSE&G’s petition allowing recovery of $85 million.

The filings, required annually, say that the damage costs could fluctuate based on a number of factors, including new technologies, state and federal regulation and market conditions.

Not all MGPs were owned by the current companies over the full course over their operation. Companies often acquired the plants through the purchase of other companies — meaning companies are not directly responsible for the damages caused at some of their properties.

“There are approximately 3,000 former MGPs nationwide and about 80 in New Jersey, three of which are in New Jersey Natural Gas’ service territory,” said Kinney.

“Over the past three decades, New Jersey Natural Gas has been actively engaged in investigating its MGP sites and conducting the necessary remediation as directed by the NJDEP,” he said.

“As always, the safety of the residents and surrounding communities is our top priority,” he said. “We work closely with the NJDEP to ensure compliance with all environmental regulation.”

The other gas providers did not respond to requests for comment.
MGP environmental liabilities by N.J. gas providers

Company Lowest Estimate Highest Estimate
PSE&G $431,000,000.00 $499,000,000.00
South Jersey Gas $124,300,000.00 $223,300,000.00
AGL Resources/Elizabethtown Gas $115,000,000.00 $195,000,000.00
NJ Resources/NJ Natural Gas $150,900,000.00 $242,100,000.00
Total $821,200,000.00 $1,159,400,000.00

Cincinnati Insurance Co. v. Roy’s Plumbing, Inc., 2016: pollution exclusion applicble to a claim involving toxic materials discharged from a sewer system

New York Court Holds Pollution Exclusion Applicable to Love Canal Claims



In its recent decision in Cincinnati Insurance Co. v. Roy’s Plumbing, Inc., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75958 (W.D.N.Y. June 10, 2016), the United States District Court for the Western District of New York had occasion to consider the application of a pollution exclusion to a claim involving toxic materials discharged from a sewer system.

Cincinnati insured Roy’s plumbing under a series of general liability policies.  Roy’s was sued in a lawsuit brought by residents in the vicinity of Love Canal who alleged that defendants wrongfully caused the release of toxic substances, resulting in bodily injury and property damage.  The suit alleged that Roy’s negligently performed inspection and construction activities, including sewer replacement, which allowed previously contaminated soils from the Love Canal containment area to be discharged onto and into the plaintiffs’ homes and properties.   Notably, the complaint alleged that these toxic materials were introduced into the sewer system before escaping from the sewers to plaintiffs’ homes.

Cincinnati denied coverage for the suit on the basis of its policies’ pollution exclusion applicable to “‘Bodily injury’ or ‘property damage’ which would not have occurred in whole or part but for the actual, alleged or threatened discharge, dispersal, seepage, migration, release, escape or emission of ‘pollutants’ at any time.’”


Roy’s argued that the pollution exclusion was overly broad and therefore ambiguous, at least to the facts alleged.  In particular, it claimed that as a plumbing company, Cincinnati knew that Roy’s would be handling sewage and that the exclusion, therefore, essentially negated the a large portion of the policies’ coverage.  Looking to New York case law on the issue, the court noted that the pollution exclusion is unambiguous in the limited context of traditional environmental harm, citing to Belt Painting Corp. v. TIG Ins. Co., 293 A.D.2d 206 (2d Dep’t 2002), aff’d, 100 N.Y.2d 377 (2003).  This case law guided the court’s thinking with respect to whether the exclusion applied to underlying suit:
Defendant, who is in the plumbing, heating, and cooling business, does not necessarily fit the mold of a traditional industrial polluter, and the actions that led to Defendant’s inclusion in the Underlying Litigation were part of Defendant’s ordinary business of repairing sewer systems. Nevertheless, the allegations in the Underlying Complaint fall squarely within the context of environmental pollution.
The court also considered Roy’s contention that the exclusion did not apply to the entirety of the underlying suit since a portion of plaintiffs’ claims, at least those pertaining to property damage, might have been the result of sewage.  In addressing this, the court observed that while the complaint alleged migration of pollutants through the sewer system, the complaint did not use the word “sewage.”  The court further observed that even if sewage was released, the harms alleged in the underlying suit were limited to those of a traditional environmental nature, such as birth defects and epidemiological harms, and death of vegetation and wildlife.  By contrast, the complaint did not allege any non-pollution harms associated with sewage, such as flooding or structural damage.  As such, the court concluded that:
… even if Defendant is correct and the Underlying Plaintiffs intended to allege that some of their injuries were brought about by exposure to fecal matter and sewage, rather than toxic chemicals, the Total Pollutant Exclusion would nevertheless apply because it is the “polluting” character of the “contaminated sediment” and “myriad hazardous chemicals” that has given rise to the Underlying Litigation, and not their “flood-like” character.

Global forum exposed where cybercriminals can buy and sell access to compromised servers for as little as US$6 each


Kaspersky exposes massive underground market selling more than 70,000 hacked servers



June 17, 2016 by Canadian Underwriter


Cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab has reported that its researchers have uncovered a global forum where cybercriminals can buy and sell access to compromised servers for as little as US$6 each.



The xDedic marketplace, which appears to be run by a Russian-speaking group, Kaspersky Lab said in a press release on Wednesday, currently lists 70,624 hacked remote desktop protocol (RDP) servers for sale from 416 unique sellers in 173 affected countries.

Many of the servers host or provide access to popular consumer websites and services and some have software installed for direct mail, financial accounting and point-of-sale (PoS) processing, Kaspersky said in the release, adding that the servers can be used to “target the owners’ infrastructures or as a launch-pad for wider attacks, while the owners, including government entities, corporations and universities, have little or no idea of what’s happening.”

“xDedic is a powerful example of a new kind of cybercriminal marketplace: well-organized and supported, and offering everyone from entry-level cybercriminals to APT (adaptive threat division) groups fast, cheap, and easy access to legitimate organizational infrastructure that keeps their crimes below the radar for as long as possible,” Kaspersky said in the release.


Example of a server for sale. Photo: Kaspersky Lab.

The cybersecurity company said that a European Internet service provider (ISP) alerted them to the existence of xDedic and the companies worked together to investigate how the forum operates. The process is simple and thorough: hackers break into servers, often through brute-force attacks, and bring the credentials to xDedic. The hacked servers are then checked for their RDP configuration, memory, software, browsing history and more, all features that customers can search through before buying. After that, they are added to a growing online inventory that includes access to:
Servers belonging to government networks, corporations and universities;
Servers tagged for having access to or hosting certain websites and services, including gaming, betting, dating, online shopping, online banking and payment, cell phone networks, ISPs and browsers; and
Servers with pre-installed software that could facilitate an attack, including direct mail, financial and PoS software.

From as little as US$6 per server, members of the xDedic forum can access all of a server’s data and also use it as a platform for further malicious attacks. This could potentially include targeted attacks, malware, DDoS, phishing, social engineering and adware attacks, among others, Kaspersky said.

The servers’ legitimate owners are often unaware that their IT infrastructure has been compromised. Furthermore, once a campaign has been completed, the attackers can put access to the server back up for sale and the whole process can begin again, Kaspersky reported.

The xDedic marketplace seems to have opened for business some time in 2014, and has become “significantly more popular” since the middle of 2015. In May of 2016, it listed 70,624 servers from 173 countries for sale, posted in the names of 416 different sellers. “In March 2016, the number was about 55,000, a clear indication that the database of users and servers is carefully maintained and updated,” Kaspersky said in the release.

While 51% of affected countries are listed by Kaspersky as “other,” of the named ones, Brazil was at 9%, followed by China (7%), Russia (6%), India (5%), Spain (5%), Italy (4%), France (4%), Australia (3%), South Africa (3%) and Malaysia (3%).

The group behind xDedic claims that it “merely provides a trading platform and has no links or affiliations to the sellers,” Kaspersky reported. “If the truth be told, the people behind xDedic have created what appears to be a ‘quality’ service – the forum even includes live technical support, special tools to patch hacked servers to allow multiple RDP sessions and profiling tools that upload information about the hacked servers into the xDedic database.”

“xDedic is further confirmation that cybercrime-as-a-service is expanding through the addition of commercial ecosystems and trading platforms,” Costin Raiu, Kaspersky’s director, global research and analysis team, said in the release. “Its existence makes it easier than ever for everyone, from low-skilled malicious attackers to nation-state backed APTs to engage in potentially devastating attacks in a way that is cheap, fast and effective. The ultimate victims are not just the consumers or organizations targeted in an attack, but also the unsuspecting owners of the servers: they are likely to be completely unaware that their servers are being hijacked again and again for different attacks, all conducted right under their nose.”

The Foo Fighters are suing insurers for failing to reimburse them for European shows they cancelled following the Paris terrorist attacks in November


Foo Fighters sue insurers over terrorism policy






FILE - In this July 15, 2015 file photo, Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters performs at Citi Field in New York. The band is suing insurers for failing to reimburse them for European shows they canceled following the Paris terrorist attacks in November. (Photo by Greg Allen/Invision/AP, File) (Associated Press)
By Associated Press June 14

LOS ANGELES, CA — The Foo Fighters are suing insurers for failing to reimburse them for European shows they cancelled following the Paris terrorist attacks in November.

The suit, filed Monday in federal court in Los Angeles against underwriters with Lloyd’s of London and loss adjuster Robertson Taylor, alleges the band headed by Dave Grohl is owed for shows they called off in Turin, Italy; Paris and Lyon in France; and Barcelona.

The band was to perform in those cities immediately after the Nov. 13, 2015 attacks by Islamic State radicals that killed 130 people.

The band says the website, www.foofighterstours2015.com , had been hacked the day after the attacks to display an ISIS flag, automatic weapon and the threat, “be prepared.”


A Robertson Taylor representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The band says in the suit that it believes it will be paid for the Paris and Lyon cancellations but alleges that Robertson Taylor advised underwriters against paying for canceled shows in Italy and Spain despite ISIS releasing a video threatening additional attacks in Europe.

The band is also suing the insurers for not paying for three canceled shows related to Grohl’s injured leg after a fall from a stage in Sweden last June.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Metropolitan Engineering, Consulting, Forensics, and Environmental Remediation Services. Construction, Investigation, Remediation and Forensic Expert Engineers


Construction Defects, Construction Claims, Engineering, Property & Casualty Investigations, Assessment, Site Investigation, Remediation, Litigation and Indoor-Air Expert Engineers

Bill Stephan, PhD, PE, CIH, CHMM, JD, MBA
Principal Engineer

P.O. Box 520
Tenafly, New Jersey 07670-0520
Phone: (973) 897-8162
Fax: (973) 810-0440



__________________________________________________



Firm Overview


The engineering and forensic firm of Metropolitan Forensics and Consulting Engineering and Environmental Services was established for the purpose of providing a high value service to the insurance industry and to the insured companies or individuals. Our founding principal (Bill Stephan) is a licensed professional engineer in several states, including, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.



We specialize in the in-situ remediation of petroleum and chlorinated spills, the defense of liability claims, the investigation and defense of first or third party insurance claims and the handling of subrogation claims.  We are also experts on oil and gas energy sector issues (design, investigations, construction oversight), renewable energy sector (wind turbines, solar panels, biofuels, etc), vapor intrusion evaluation, vapor phase and transport and in design on vapor mitigation systems.  Additionally, we offer forensic engineering services, including age-dating of contaminant releases, construction defects, oversight, evaluation of remedial alternatives, sub-slab ventilation system design and installation.  The list of our core services is:



  • Cause and Origin Investigations
  • Construction Failure Analysis (Residential, Industrial and Commercial)
  • Structural Integrity Evaluation
  • Site Investigation
  • Tank removals and tank installations; licensed and insured to perform entire UST work
  • In-Situ Remediation of Soil and Groundwater
  • Vapor intrusion, indoor air evaluation and mitigation
  • Causation
  • Forensic Investigations (age-dating)
  • Oversight
  • Review of Remedial Action Work Plans
  • Reserve Estimation
  • Cost Allocation
  • RAWP Preparation
  • Site Remediation
  • Cleanup Level Development and Negotiation
  • Subrogation
  • Expert Witness/Litigation Support
  • Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP) Services
  • Construction Claims (Delay, Differing Site Conditions, Loss of Productivity, Acceleration, and others)

 



















Additional Specialty Service Areas

Age Dating
Boilers & Burners
Bridges
Building Codes
Building Inspections


Construction Accident
   Reconstruction
Construction Defects
Construction Delay Claims

Construction Surety Claims
Construction Disputes
Construction Differing Condition Claims
Construction Oversight
Construction Management
Construction Acceleration Claims

Construction Failures
Construction Injuries
Contractor Performance Issues
Corrosion


Defective Designs
Defective Roadway Design
   Evaluations


Earthquake
Electrical Accidents/Injuries
Electrical Equipment Failures
Electrical Fires
Elevators, Escalators
   & Conveyors
Embedded Software Hazards
   & Analysis
Equipment Failures
Errors and Omissions
Explosions

Failure Analysis
Fire
Fire Codes
Fire Protection Systems
Fire Suppression Systems

Flood Damage Assessment

Foundation Systems

Gas Systems

Hailstorm damage

Heating & Ventilation Systems
Heavy Construction
Highway/Roadway Design
Human Factors


Indoor Air Quality
Laboratory Services
Ladders, Scaffolding Falls
   & Failures
Lightning

Mechanical Defect Evaluations
Metallurgical Age Dating
Mold Causation
Natural Disasters/Weather
   Related Issues
Nuclear Energy
Occupational Hazards
   & Illness

Piping
Playground Equipment Injuries
Plumbing
Product Failures
Roofing Problems & Failures
Safety Codes
Safety & Human Factors
   Engineering
Scalding
Scene Mapping and Photographs
Sick Building Syndrome
Sports Equipment Injuries
Standardized Codes
Steam Systems
Subrogation Issues


Transportation Issues
Trips, Slips & Falls
Underground Storage Tanks
Utilities Expertise
Vibration
Water Damage
Windstorm



Mission Statement


Our mission is to work as an extension of our clients to expeditiously achieve the most economically favorable resolution of claims on their behalf and on behalf of their insured. We have developed and will continue to create new solutions to the technical problems and issues which are facing the insurance industry and the insureds today.  

Metropolitan provides forensic engineering work (age-dating or fingerprinting), site remediation, auditing, cost control and litigation support services to insurance carriers, their insureds and to private or public companies.  In its risk management role, examines, manages and audits environmental claims to ensure that assessment and remediation services provided to both carriers and policy holders are reasonable and necessary, properly rendered and appropriately charged. 



In its litigation support role, Metropolitan assists carriers and their counsel to ensure that litigious disputes are resolved fairly and reimbursement benefits are provided when appropriate.  The corporations service area includes the entire United States, with our corporate office located in Northern New Jersey.  The Firm's professional staff also travels regularly throughout the United States on assignment.


Forensics at Metropolitan


There are many issues associated with disputes over responsibility for cleanup. Who, what, when, where, and how chemicals were released can be investigated. The tools of forensic investigation include mathematical models, statistical models, fate and transport calculations, chromatography, lead isotope analyses, time of travel assessments, library search site characterization, tracer additives, and recently developed software applications.



Effective forensic project management should include an evaluation of multiple forensic tools based on site specific circumstances. The process of evaluation and the ultimate selection of the forensic tool are critical to a successful outcome. When project budgets allow, combining forensic methods for corroborative evidence can substantially strengthen your client’s position in an effort to prevent or support litigation. The effective forensic consultant must be well acquainted with an ever expanding list of analytical methods, environmental regulations, assessment procedures and remedial technologies.



The forensic field is one that utilizes a wide range of scientific tools to identify and characterize complex adverse environmental events. Some of the scientific disciplines involved in forensics include engineering principles (biological, physical and chemical), hydrology, lithology, geology, site history, site practices, mathematics, and statistics. These areas may be combined with technologies such as respiratory analyses, chromatography/mass spectrometry and chemical fingerprinting methods to answer complex questions with the ultimate goal of establishing responsibility for a particular event. Accurate, defensible forensic analyses are an essential component of any strategy that attempts to resolve the extent of the insurer or insured client responsibilities in the cleanup of contaminants.


Contact us online or call 973-897-8162 to learn more about our forensic services.



Property Damage Services at Metropolitan

Metropolitan assists property owners, claims professionals, businesses, and attorneys in   the assessment of the cause & origin (C&O), extent of damage and required restoration after pipe bursts, settlements, manufacturing and construction failures, fire, flood, earthquake, or storm damage.  Our teams of engineers have extensive experience in the many systems that make up a building including structural, mechanical and electrical systems.   We also have the necessary background to evaluate property damage to items such as communications towers or solar panels. We can help determine alternative, appropriate, and cost effective solutions for repair or restoration of any damaged property, both commercial and residential. 

Providing Competent, Expert and Objective Investigative Engineering and Consulting Services.

Our experts are multi-skilled, competent, and objective professionals who apply their analytical and common sense skills to reconstruct, determine the root cause, and document the events that give rise to property, casualty, and liability claims.  Thorough investigations and detailed measurements/research help us distinguish between pre-existing conditions and sudden and accidental losses.


 















Our investigations are:

·         Comprehensive & Accurate

·         Legible & Easy to Understand

·         Timely Performed

·         Delivered Quickly

·         Cost Effective

·         Clear & Concise

·         Developed by Professionals

·         Dependable

·         Our own uniform reporting system saves time and money.


Our Fast Track Investigation and Uniform Format Reporting systems allow us to conduct and deliver a comprehensive response to the assigned claim.  In most cases, we will obtain findings based on a site visit, visual observations, photographs, interviews, and field measurements.  Further investigations and testing will be provided upon request and approval by the client.



Forensic Investigation of Property Damage Claims

Metropolitan Consulting, Engineering & Forensics understands your need to complete a claim investigation accurately and efficiently as possible.  Whether it is accident reconstruction, damage due to environmental forces such as wind, water, hail, snow, tornado, etc.; fire origin & cause investigation or any other claim, the engineers at Metropolitan understand both you and your client want to resolve the claim.  The analysis you receive from Metropolitan will be accurate and complete, giving you the information needed in the claim adjustment and analysis.

Our services have extended beyond the forensic analysis phase into the remediation and repair phase of many large loss claims.  Upon the completion of the cause and origin (C&O) investigation, Metropolitan can provide our clients with complete working drawings and specifications needed to repair or rebuilt damaged buildings or other structures.  Metropolitan Consulting & Engineering’ staff possesses many-many years of experience in rehabilitation design, construction management, and project oversight to ensure the loss is restored in a timely and cost-effective manner without sacrificing quality.  Building code knowledge allows us to identify possible code upgrades as needed.  Metropolitan understands constructability and realizes making an insured whole goes beyond forensic investigation and design. We pride ourselves in providing practical solutions contractors can understand and follow.

At the forefront of available technology, we provide professionals and staff capable of handling a variety of engineering evaluations.  Our reports are clear, concise, complete and efficiently produced.  Our engineering objectives are achieved in an ethical manner consistent with the traditions and character of engineering professionals.

Contact us online or call 973-897-8162 to learn more about our property damage services.


Extensive Experience helping Sureties

Metropolitan also has extensive experience helping sureties fulfill their bond obligations resolve disputes after a contractor has defaulted.  This work includes the evaluation of contractor bid pricing, evaluation of the contractor’s ability to perform work, risk assessment, evaluation of termination, construction completion services, claim and litigation support services, loss recovery services, evaluation of payment bond claims, negotiation and settlement of payment bond claims, and construction defects investigation services.  Metropolitan has provided these services for commercial, development, educational, and assisted living projects.

Construction is a business fraught with risk.  Disputes over even the smallest of issues can quickly escalate, with crippling consequences to the project and the parties.  Over the years, the construction industry has developed various methods of contractually allocating the risk of project delay and disruption.  Some of these methods include liquidated damages provisions, "no damages for delay" clauses, mutual waivers of consequential damages, provisions that limit liability, claims notice provisions, and provisions addressing responsibility for the adequacy of the construction plans and specifications.  Parties frequently litigate the sufficiency of these risk-shifting efforts in conjunction with the underlying merits of delay and disruption disputes.
Construction Claims & Disputes
The most frequently encountered claims include:
1.            Construction Delay Claims
2.            Disruption and Loss of Labor Productivity Claims
3.            Design and Construction Defect Claims
4.            Force Majeure Claims
5.            Acceleration or Compression of the Schedule Claims
6.            Suspension, Termination and Default Claims
7.            Differing Site Conditions Claims
8.            Change Order and Extra Work Claims
9.            Cost Overrun Claims
10.         Unacceptable Workmanship or Substituted Material Claims
11.         Non-payment Claims (stop notice (or Notice to Withhold) claims, mechanics’ lien (only for private construction projects) and payment bond claims)



Forensic Engineering Experience Case Studies


Metropolitan staff has developed and utilized scientific methods to assist clients in a variety of ways related to their claim issues. The following is a partial list of such projects:

  • Provided expert witness services for plaintiff seeking remediation of contaminated groundwater that caused indoor air inhalation problems;
  • Testified that engineering and scientific evidence was improperly collected and analyzed and was inadequate to show the age of the release;
  • Origin and cause of retaining wall failures.  
  • Lightning damage to structures or electrical systems and equipment
  • Roof failure or collapse as a result of accumulated load, additional weight and snow drift at hundreds of commercial and residential properties.
  • Demonstrated that solvents in groundwater at client's property originated from off-site dry-cleaner and that client's site actually provided remediation for the off-site release of dry cleaning solvent;
  • Expert witness for property owner impacted by industrial waste disposal from industrial manufacturer;
  • Demonstrated that environmental analysis by a previous consultant for a manufacturing site was inadequate; as a result, the lender's concerns were alleviated and financing proceeded;
  • Chemical "age-dating" and contaminant transport analyses of petroleum in groundwater at a gas station showed that contaminants originated from other parties;
  • Age-dated petroleum release at a former gas station to show that the previous owner of the gas station caused groundwater contamination;
  • Age-dated petroleum releases at an industrial facility to show that the on-site plume was the result of an off-site source;
  • Prepared age-dating reports for over one-hundred residential fuel oil spills;
  • Assisted insurance companies attorneys in defending subrogation claims; was able to demonstrate that the forensic data collected by the first party consultant were collected and analyzed using invalid methods;
  • Demonstrated that structural damage to a residence was from a source other than the alleged high lake level
  • Collected evidence (for the primary responsible party) that identified other responsible parties to share in the cost of a Superfund cleanup;
  • Review of the site data at a bulk petroleum facility indicated that the site releases were not the result of regular oil transfer operations and that they were caused by the negligent actions of the insured’s agents; the case was settled in favor of the insurance company;
  • Was able to demonstrate that the majority of the removal actions at petroleum release sites were neither reasonable nor necessary; as a result of our opinion, the insurance client settled the claim in favorable terms;
  • At several drycleaner sites we were able to demonstrate that the age of the release was much earlier than the parties originally believed; as a result, the insurance client settled the claim at a fraction of the alleged liability;
  • We performed numerous flood and wind damage assessments at commercial and residential properties.
Contact us online or call 973-897-8162 to learn more about our forensic engineering services.




Site Remediation Services


 Characterizing and remediating contaminated sites involve some of the most complex and difficult issues for environmental lawyers and their clients. Problem areas include responding to regulators; negotiating enforcement settlements; negotiating or litigating cost allocation and recovery claims; working with the insured or insurer client, lawyers and regulators to develop efficient, cost-effective remediation approaches; and selling, buying, or developing contaminated properties.



Metropolitan staff has developed and applied an innovative approach to the use of sodium persulfate for the sequential in-situ treatment of subsurface contaminants through chemical oxidation followed by enhanced biological degradation through sulfate reduction. This approach has broad applicability to a wide range of contaminants, and shows strong cost-saving benefits through reducing the initial volume of chemical oxidant necessary and enhancing the in-situ biological degradation of contaminants.



Through proper subsurface geochemical characterization and chemical dosing design, the approach focuses on utilizing the oxidant for immediate mass reduction at the source area, followed by degradation or polishing of the residual contamination using sulfate reducing bacteria.  Depending upon the oxidant activation method, this approach is applicable to petroleum hydrocarbons including both volatiles and PAHs, chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) including chlorinated ethene, ethane and methane groups, as well as PCBs.


Contact us online or call 973-897-8162 to learn more about our Site Remediation Services.





Vapor Intrusion and Indoor-Air Studies


Vapor intrusion has received increased attention over the last few years near contaminated sites because some contaminants have the potential to migrate into nearby buildings and negatively affect indoor air quality. The accumulation of these volatile vapors in buildings can result in significant safety and health concerns.
To properly evaluate vapor intrusion a thorough evaluation of the building's ventilation system and subsurface conditions needs to be conducted by a knowledgeable professional in accordance with state and federal established procedures. 
The evaluation process typically includes a thorough building chemical inventory, the advancement of soil gas probes and the collection of soil gas samples. When indoor air quality problems are identified they can normally be resolved through the modification/installation of a properly designed ventilation system.
Metropolitan is well experienced with U.S. EPA and State vapor intrusion investigation techniques. We have completed numerous vapor intrusion and indoor air quality studies at commercial and residential properties. We have the experience to identify and resolve indoor vapor intrusion problems and the practical know-how to resolve indoor quality issues in an efficient and cost effective manner.
Contact us online or call 973-897-8162 to learn more about our Vapor Intrusion and Indoor Air Studies.




Metropolitan Engineering, Consulting, Forensics, and Environmental Remediation Services.


Construction, Investigation, Remediation and Forensic Expert  Engineers

P.O. Box 520

Tenafly, New Jersey 07670-0520

Ph.: (973) 897-8162

Fax: (973) 810-0440



Contact: Dr. Bill N. Stephan, PhD, PE, JD, CIH, MBA, CHMM





Insurance claim examiners, insureds, insurers, insurance adjusters and risk managers use Metropolitan for determining cause, evaluating the extent of damage, determining the age of the release, separating unrelated damage, analyzing loss scopes and managing restoration data, determining costs to repair, restore or replace, and preparing for insurance appraisals.



Attorneys call on Metropolitan for help when preparing for Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution such as arbitration and mediation