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Expert Technical Assistance
NEIC's Support Capabilities

Relevant Skill Areas:

•	Chemistry

•	Geochemistry

•	Statistics and data analysis

•	Toxicology

Results:

•	Pilsen neighborhood soil lead
contamination from brass and
bronze foundry -The negotiated
settlement saved the Agency
approximately $1.1 million for
the non-residential cleanup and
$4 million for the residential
portion of the cleanup.

•	Berkshire Power Company-
The owner and management
company paid a combined
$3.25 million in penalties for
falsifying emissions reports.

NEIC helped develop estimates
of the pollution that was
emitted from the falsified
reports.

•	Boasso - Two defendants were
sentenced to 28 months
incarceration, $50,000 in
restitution, and 36 months
probation for a nine-count
sentence enhancement for the
potential to cause harm or
serious bodily injury,
demonstrated by toxicology
expert witness testimony.

Key Personnel:

•	Jon Beihoffer - chemistry

•	Richard Helmich, Ph.D. -
chemistry

•	Theresa Hosick - chemistry

•	Kristen Keteles, Ph.D. -
toxicology

•	Joe Lowry, Ph.D. - chemistry

•	Steven Machemer, Ph.D. -
geochemistry

•	Brad Venner, Ph.D. - statistics

The National Enforcement Investigations Center (NEIC) is often called upon to provide
specialized expertise and consultation in support of investigations and enforcement
cases. These requests originate from local, state, federal, tribal, and environmental
and law enforcement agencies. This support ranges from the preparing expert reports,
providing testimony in court, conducting statistical analysis, providing toxicological
assessments, designing field sampling approaches, and conducting confirmatory
laboratory analysis.

Chemistry Support: Analytical chemistry is
fundamental in characterizing the presence,
fate, and transport of chemicals for
enforcement of environmental regulations.

NEIC provides expertise in environmental
forensic chemistry to support complex
environmental cases. Some recent project
examples are described below:

In response to residents' concerns regarding
soil lead contamination in Chicago, Illinois, NEIC was asked to characterize lead-
bearing particulate matter in industrial process materials and soils with elevated lead
levels to discern possible lead sources. Alley, railroad, residential, and reference soils
from the Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago were analyzed by scanning electron
microscopy, lead isotope ratios, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.
Analytical results indicated lead contamination near the foundry was consistent with
brass and bronze foundry baghouse dust and slag. NEIC completed a comprehensive
report delineating areas of contamination attributed to the brass and bronze foundry
and assisted in negotiations through November 2016, when the Final Administrative
Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent for Time Critical Removal Action (PDF)
was signed.

During a Clean Air Act leak detection and repair (LDAR) compliance inspection at the
DuPont Washington Works facility in West Virginia, the NEIC field team observed
leaking process lines carrying various formaldehyde solutions. Formaldehyde is a
hazardous air pollutant and known carcinogen. NEiC provided expertise on the
chemistry of formaldehyde in aqueous solutions in support of the compliance
inspection.

NEIC assisted the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) laboratory on
developing an approach to identify unknown waste that was initially thought to
contain illicit drugs. A very large volume of waste was shipped between two countries
in the Middle East. After no illicit drugs were detected, the analysis was directed
toward determining if the waste would be classified as hazardous under U.S. statutes.
NEIC was able to assist the DEA laboratory with development of an analytical strategy,
as well as subsequent data reviews, to enable the DEA chemists to perform the
necessary testing themselves.

NEIC | Denver Federal Center Building 25 | Denver, CO | 303.462.9000


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Statistical Support and Data Analysis Uncertainty in measurement has become increasingly important in the
presentation of enforcement evidence. NEIC provides statistical support for the development of rigorous estimates
of measurement uncertainty, including design of experiments. Additionally, NEIC can assist with developing
sampling plans. For example, NEIC helped support an investigation at a warehouse that held thousands of
containers of hazardous waste. NEIC helped design a sampling plan, including cluster sampling and XRF screening,
which was used to develop an estimate of the population of drums containing hazardous waste.

NEIC also provides data analytical services. Increasingly, companies collect massive amounts of data that are
relevant to their compliance status, ranging from leak detection survey logs to air pollution control operational
performance records. These data sets can be analyzed, and sometimes hidden non-compliance are detected
through this analysis.

Toxicology Support Toxicology is the study of the adverse effects
of chemical, physical, or biological agents on people, animals, and
the environment. Toxicologists are scientists trained to
investigate, interpret, and communicate the nature of those
effects. Therefore, a toxicologist can assist with investigations by
providing technical assistance on the potential for exposure and
potential harmful effects from exposure to toxic chemicals or
biologicals. This information can be used in an indictment, can
provide compelling evidence to leverage a plea agreement, or can
assist with determining environmental harm for penalty
calculations. A toxicologist can also provide expert witness testimony at trial to demonstrate harm or the potential
for harm from exposure to a chemical or biological agent.

For example, NEIC staff provided an expert opinion at the sentencing
hearing on the potential for harm to children from exposure to lead.

The defendant falsely told customers that he was certified to perform
lead-based paint inspections in homes where children lived. In one
instance, the defendant gave the homeowner a false negative for the
detection of lead. As a result of the ensuing exposure to the lead
paint, some of the children in the home experienced increased lead
levels in their blood. NEIC staff testified about the risks to children
from lead exposure and that the elevated blood lead levels were
likely due to the lead in the dust in the home. The judge sentenced
the defendant to the maximum of 14 months incarceration for lying about lead test results, citing "The bottom line
is, the actions you engaged in put children at risk. Our society just cannot allow that." The testimony of the
toxicologist was instrumental in obtaining the maximum sentence.

Who we are: NEIC is the environmental forensics center that supports complex civil and criminal investigations
for EPA's enforcement programs across the country. NEIC's mission is to serve as EPA's fully accredited forensics
laboratory and provide for multi-disciplinary expert teams to conduct field investigations to gather and evaluate
evidence and perform analytical services. NEIC provides support by gathering data, providing engineering
evaluations, analyzing forensic evidence, supplying legally defensible data, serving as expert witnesses in the
courtroom, and providing investigation training.

Expert capabilities: NEIC has a number of experts available to support the Agency's enforcement needs, including
forensic chemistry, statistical, and toxicology expert support. As a forensics laboratory, NEIC also has team of civil
and criminal enforcement investigators and laboratory analysts to support enforcement investigations.

How to obtain NEIC's support

If you would like more information on NEIC or to request field and/or laboratory support, technical assistance,
or training from NEIC, please contact us at neic project requests@epa.gov. You may also contact your
regional enforcement coordinator for more information on requesting NEIC's support on civil projects and
EPA's Criminal Investigation Division (CID) for support on criminal projects.

NEIC | Denver Federal Center Building 25 | Denver, CO | 303,462.9000


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