Environmental forensics is mainly about chemistry. Chemists combine the study of chemistry and environmental issues in an analytic process. Environmental forensics is mainly about the courtroom, where one side or the other is arguing a legal, criminal or civil litigation point that must be adjudicated in a system of formal legal presentation and examination of witness statements and physical evidence. In many cases, responsibility, liability, criminal culpability or best estimates of the potential for harm are some of the legal concepts that must be argued when living things, structures and environments are affected by pollutants.
The primary goal of environmental forensics is to identify the factors and causes of pollution incidents. Forensic environmental scientists use field study, data interpretation and modeling to identify the cause or to identify potential hazards to the environment from various endeavors, such as urban growth and oil extraction.
The problems with environmental forensics have centered around the formality of the scientific processes and the ability of both sides to argue with the evidence or findings. As a result, there is now more effort toward formalizing the ways in which investigation is done and in coming up with more definitive findings.
In an oil spill of great magnitude, around densely populated areas, for example, there may be illness and injury from gasses that vent off with toxic content. It is very difficult to prove that specific gases definitively caused medical problems that lead to liability claims. Forensic environmentalists may be able to provide the evidence and proof that supports one side or the other.
Some of the areas that are covered in this field are source identification issues. A prime example is in converting military or industrial sites or structures to other uses, such as for housing, retail and office space.
The remediation of oil spills is so enormous that no single financial entity may be able to provide all of the funds. Assigning liability is not as difficult, until the expanded scope of damage from oil spills is considered. The more time that has elapsed and the farther from the identified source, in other words, the less easy it becomes to assign liability or to prove responsibility
Bioremediation through the use of microbes that eat pollutants is a sub field of environmental forensics. From the toxic pollutants of past industrial processes to the current British Petroleum oil spill, bioremediation offers a whole new world of possibility. Biochemists must help to provide ways to condition the oil and the water to ensure that the oil eating bacteria that are used in bioremediation of oil spills can thrive.
An understanding of the classic and latest scientific methods and tools available to the chemist, including isotope recognition, molecular biological examination, DNA testing, hydrocarbon “fingerprinting”, key compound identification and other state of the art processes and tools is needed.
An understanding of computer science, database management, design and modeling and other data manipulation issues is important to the forensic environmentalist.
While the rigors of being an environmental forensic specialist with a heavy concentration on chemistry are enough to handle, issues of pollution rarely are easily assignable to segmented and isolated fields of study.
In summary, many of the newer fields of science are actually hybrids of many sciences and are rarely a complete, isolated concentration in one specific area. When the prefix “forensic”, or tied to legal and court matters is attached, the issues of quality education, excellent reputation and training in meticulous process becomes very important.
R E Hester (Editor), R M Harrison (Editor) “Environmental Forensics”, book abstract, 2008
