What Lies Beneath? Assessing and Compensating for Groundwater Contamination
Presented on Monday, May 5, 2014
David Askman, JD1 and David Chapman2, (1)Hunsucker Goodstein PC, Denver, CO, (2)Stratus Consulting, Boulder, CO
Contamination of groundwater from industrial and disposal facilities and practices can pose a significant threat to ever important groundwater resources. That groundwater is typically owned, managed, and/or held in trust by governmental entities which have the ability to regulate ongoing activities and, importantly, remedy past ones. Many federal, state, and Tribal governments have undertaken assessment of groundwater contamination and identified approaches to compensate for the years of contamination. This presentation will discuss the key legal and economic approaches and challenges to assessing the extent of groundwater contamination, and determining appropriate types and amount of compensation. In any situation, there are a variety of economic and equivalency options for valuing both a contaminated or lost groundwater resource and the services which it provides. We will address several of those options and the manners in which compensation for those losses can be pursued, and provide case examples.
David Askman, JD
Hunsucker Goodstein PC, Denver, CO
David Askman is a leading authority on the litigation of natural resources damages claims—including claims for groundwater contamination—having practiced in this area for more than 20 years. He was previously Senior Counsel at the United States Department of Justice in the Environmental Enforcement Section. Askman spent his career with DOJ litigating cases under the Superfund Law, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and other environmental statutes. A litigator by trade, he was counsel for the United States in several notable trials involving environmental compensation.
David Chapman
Stratus Consulting, Boulder, CO
David Chapman is Vice President of Stratus Consulting in Boulder, Colorado. A natural resource economist, he has worked in natural resource damage assessment and environmental valuation for more than 20 years. Chapman leads natural resource valuation and NRDA projects for both state and federal agencies. He was previously a senior economist at the NOAA Damage Assessment Center, actively involved in economic and natural science studies for many NRDAs and restoration planning activities undertaken by NOAA throughout the United States. He has worked extensively to develop wide ranges of techniques valuing resources and the services they provide.
