Characterization, source identification, and apportionment of environmental contamination are central to environmental forensics because they are the basis of environmental litigation, remediation, and enforcement. Although environmental forensics resulted from environmental regulations and historical contamination in developed countries, environmental issues associated with industrialization in developing economies have only increased interest. This symposium focuses on characterizing pollution, distinguishing sources of pollution in contaminated media, apportioning contamination between sources, and relating results to litigation where environmental enforcement or allocation of clean up costs are at issue. Investigations may involve legal consequences, uncover parties responsible for pollution, or apply scientific evidence in litigation or arbitration of contaminated sites. Of particular interest are methodologies and results leading to better characterization, tracking, and source identification/apportionment of environmental contamination. Topics may include sampling and analytical techniques for contaminant identification and tracking; studies of metals, explosives residues, endocrine disruptors, PCBs, or dioxins in the environment; studies involving emerging pollutants, hydrocarbon pattern recognition, age-dating of persistent pollutants, or geochemical interactions with contaminants in the environment; new technologies or applications such as laser ablation or atomic spectrochemical tools; remote sensing and aerial photography; reference materials; models for contaminant transport or source identification; statistical data analysis; legal perspectives on forensics issues; and civil or criminal environmental enforcement litigation. |
