Pesticides had impacted drinking water supply wells 350 feet beneath pineapple fields on one of the Hawaiian Islands. Application had ceased more than 20 years earlier; plaintiff’s experts claimed concentrations above the MCLs would still be seen in the drinking water aquifer 30 years in the future.
In providing technical support for the litigation on behalf of the defendant, I addressed fate (i.e. biodegradation) issues for our Expert Report and prepared rebuttal comments on fate issues in the opposing party’s two expert reports and their rebuttals to our expert report. Since little was known about the compounds in question, an opposing expert referenced the biodegradation literature (circa 1984) on a structurally analagous compound as a surrogate. However, the biodegradation knowledge on the analogue had changed in 20 years, including work I had published.
I prepared questions for the attorneys to ask the opposing experts during their depositions. According to the attorneys, the case resolved favorably for the client.
