Background

ARCADIS' confidential client had retained certain liabilities during the course of business acquisitions and transactions. Two liabilities were located on an Indian reservation in northern Wisconsin and were former paper mill sludge disposal sites. The Indian tribe had asserted that impacts to the residential water supplies on the reservation resulted from contamination emanating from these disposal sites.   The Indian tribe had also asserted that the sites posed a potential threat to rice fields on the reservation. 

ARCADIS was retained to provide investigation and litigation support services in defense of the client. Agencies involved on the project
included the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), Region V of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Support Activities

ARCADIS worked closely with our client and our client's legal counsel to develop a technically sound and cost-effective approach to investigate the assertions by the tribe. We were able, on behalf of our client, to negotiate reduced scopes of work through phasing the investigations at each site. Investigation support services included sampling of soil, groundwater, sediments, and surface water. This information was used to complete a human health and ecological risk assessment for the disposal sites. ARCADIS compiled and organized the data to assist legal council with regulatory agency negotiations.

The results from the phased investigations demonstrated that the types and nature of contaminants in the residential wells did not correlate with constituents detected in samples from the disposal sites. This information was used to defend the client from claims of liability from the Indian reservation. In addition, the risk assessments provided compelling scientific evidence that neither of the sites posed a threat to human health of ecological receptors.  Since submittal of the final reports, the agencies have not pursued further actions at the sites.

Project Highlights

Some of the key project highlights include:

• Negotiated effectively with multiple agencies in a potentially litigious setting.
• Demonstrated through sound scientific methods that the sites did not pose a threat to human health or ecological receptors.
• Conduct a focused investigation to collect strategic data while minimizing the costs incurred. 
• Multi-media sampling program in support of a human health and ecological risk assessment that met regulatory approval.

Summary

Results indicated that the two disposal sites had not adversely impacted groundwater or the biota near the sites.  Since the reports were prepared in the late 1990s, the tribe has not pursued the client for further action.