Presentation on the importance of planning environmental sampling and some of the data quality issues that can become an issue during a litigation situation. Topics include sampling strategies, documentation, data quality etc.

1. Providing Bullet Proof Data Sets for
Environmental Matters – Is it Legally
Defensible?
Court D. Sandau, PhD, PChem
Chemistry Matters Inc.
PBiol Brownbag Lunch Seminar – November 22, 2011

2. The Foundation of All Environmental
Investigations
Litigation
Remediation &
Risk
Assessment
Site Investigation
Phase I, II, III
Data Quality
Precision, Accuracy, Reproducibility, Comparability,
Representative, Collected Properly, Documented, COC
Progression of Investigation
www.chemistry-matters.com 2

3. Investigation Road Map
Field Event
Sampling Design
Reporting
DQOs
QAPP
www.chemistry-matters.com 3

4. 5P rule
Prior
Planning
Prevents
Poor
Performance
www.chemistry-matters.com 4

5. Data Flow for Environmental
Investigations
Data Generation and Review
1 2
Quality Assurance
Project Plan (QAPP)
Requirements
Identified
External Parties
Validation of the
Laboratory Analytical
Data (Not the Lab)
Project
Scope
Defined
Field
Activities
Laboratory
Analysis
Data Quality
Data Usability Assessment
Data Repository
e.g., Database
(General or Project)
Data may
support future
project needs
QAPP Analytical requirements sent to lab
Samples +
COC info
Analytical
Data
Package
Data on
Sample
Location
Validated
Analytical
Data
Field Logs
Information
Project
Decision(s) +
Supporting
Data
3 4
6 5
8 7
www.chemistry-matters.com 5

6. Science Experiment
• All environmental investigations should be treated
as a science experiment:
Design (hypothesis, to answer a question)
Data (correct, enough)
Controls (to know validity of data and uncertainty)
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7. Case Background
• Residents of town in Texas alleged exposure to
contaminants from local wood treatment facility
• Initiated a class action lawsuit
• PAHs, Dioxins/Furans, metals – main CoCs
• Representing the defendant
• Each side collects their own data
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8. Choice of Sampling Locations
Plaintiffs
• Sampled oldest
houses in the town
• Sampled homes
closest to plant
Defendants
• Sampled homes of all
ages and areas of
town, including
“background”
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9. Sampling Strategy
• Composite or discrete
• Statistical / Judgmental / Opportunistic
Hotspot < 100m2 Define Average Conc. 95% Confident not
Systematic grid Systematic grid Contaminated
Random
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10. Sampling Strategy
• Best to have strategy before heading to site
• Non-biased, statistical sampling is best
• If judgmental sampling
– Is the person qualified to make the judgments
– Are the judgments being documented – reasons
why?
• Used years later
– Remember that one person’s judgment may be
different than another
• Must be able to defend choices
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11. Choice of Sampling Technique
Plaintiffs
- Vacuum bought at local store
then ‘MacGyver’d’
Defendants
- Used US-EPA developed
vacuum design
- Followed ASTM Method
D5438–05 protocol for
sampling
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12. Sampling Procedures
• Always use standardized or validated
sampling (operating) procedures
• Always have an SOP written and at
the site
• Have staff read and sign they have
read and understood the SOP
• Check to make sure staff are
following the SOPs
• Video the sampling of contentious
sites
www.chemistry-matters.com 12

13. Sample Containers
Plaintiffs
• Water bottles, cut in half
and taped together with duct
tape
Defendants
•EPA approved
glass, certified clean
sample jars
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14. Sample Containers
• Never use water bottles
to collect a sample
• Use appropriate
containers
– Careful of contaminant
• Is preservative
necessary?
• How full does container
need to be?
– Headspace, no
headspace
– Will sample be frozen
• Tamper proof seal
www.chemistry-matters.com 14

15. Sampling Locations
Plaintiffs
• Collected dust from
normally inaccessible attics
spaces
Defendants
• Sampled carpet in living
areas of the homes
www.chemistry-matters.com 15

16. Sampling
• Why are you taking the
sample?
• What are the CoCs?
• What is your conceptual site
model?
– What exposure are you
worried about or trying to
represent?
• Is the sampling technique
appropriate for the
model/guideline?
www.chemistry-matters.com 16

17. Sample Pre/Post-Treatment
Plaintiffs
• Sample was submitted as
is…
Defendants
• Need to represent human
exposure which is <120 μm
particles
• Sieved to ASTM standard
422-63
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18. Sample Pre/Post-Treatment
• Does sample require preservative?
• Does sample need to be sieved prior to
putting in sample bottle? Sieved by lab?
– Remove rocks
– Remove organic matter (roots/grass)
– Remove dead spiders/moths etc…
www.chemistry-matters.com 18

19. Documentation
Plaintiffs
• Little documentation, no SOPs,
legal chain of custody not
followed
Defendants
• Lots of picture
• Great field notes
• SOPs written and followed
• Sampling plan developed
before site visit
• Legal chain of custody
followed
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20. Documentation
Sampling
Forms
Field
Notes
COCs
Maps
• Pictures, videos
• GPS coordinates of sampling points and site characteristics
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NNamame e

21. Legally Defensible Notes
• Waterproof notebooks and
pens
• Only use legally defensible
notebooks
– Bound, no ripped out pages,
pages numbered
• www.riteintherain.com/
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22. Documentation
• Pictures, Pictures, Pictures
– Document like “CSI”
• Video standard procedures as needed
– Sometimes video every sample collected
• GPS – use best technique available
– Many people associate precision = accuracy
• Handheld GPS +/- 3-5 m vs sub-cm
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23. Field Notes & Documentation
• Good notes caught observation that well pump
had duct tape on it
• Positive hit for toluene in water – potential
blame on the client for impacting well
• Electricians tape had a concentration of toluene
that was calculated to be 290 mg/kg
• Could show that electrical tape caused positive
hit for toluene
•Field notes
•Observations
from experiment
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24. Completeness
• No empty fields
• Completeness/thoroughness is key
• Data blanks make it look incomplete or careless
• Questioning whether procedures were followed
• Sloppiness (e.g. wrong number of samples on COC) is
unacceptable
• Data used months to years after the fact
– Sometimes new consultant needs to use the data
www.chemistry-matters.com 24

25. Field Work
• Completeness and
thoroughness takes time
• Cannot rush – easy to forget
or miss something
• Developing SOPs and
checklists for on-site
activities is a good way to
develop a “system”
• Systems, once in place,
provide efficiencies and long
term consistency
www.chemistry-matters.com 25

26. Chain of Custody
www.chemistry-matters.com 26

27. Maintaining Custody
From a legal perspective, a
sample is under custody
if:
• the sample is in a
person’s possession
• the sample is in a
person’s view after being
in possession
• the sample was in the
person’s possession and
then was locked up to
prevent tampering
• the sample is in a
designated secure area
www.chemistry-matters.com 27

28. Chain of Custody
• Should be filled
out in
completion
• All samples
accounted for
– Lab issues
– Loss of custody
• COC used for
future
reference
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29. Sample Packaging: Cooler Check List
Item Yes If no....
Are samples properly contained and chemically
preserved?
Correct
Are samples properly labeled? Correct
Initials of collector, time, date of collection? Correct
Are samples properly sealed? Correct
Is necessary preservative present, i.e. ice? Correct
Has chain of custody form been completed? Correct
Does chain of custody information match sample labels? Correct
Copy of chain of custody form taped to cooler lid and
maintained inside cooler in whirlpack bag?
Correct
Samples properly packaged to withstand breakage? Correct
Are coolers custody sealed? Correct
Was storage temperature maintained between sample
collection and lab receipt
May require
resampling
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30. Thermochron
40
30
20
10
0
-10
-20
-30
24-Nov-08
25-Nov-08
26-Nov-08
27-Nov-08
28-Nov-08
29-Nov-08
30-Nov-08
1-Dec-08
2-Dec-08
3-Dec-08
Date
Temperature (° C)
Samples
collected
Samples
moved to
freezer
Samples moved to
shipping cooler
Samples
received
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31. Relinquishing COC
• Each person that handles samples until
(including) receipt at lab must sign/date COC
• Best to have samples sorted for laboratory
receipt
• Good practice – samples grouped by analysis
requested
• Don’t need sorting issue to be a problem after
all the effort put into collecting samples
www.chemistry-matters.com 31

32. Analytical Methodology
Plaintiffs
• Submitted samples
for standard
analytical workup at
laboratory that does
not have
experience with
dust analysis
Defendants
• Used newest
method which
provides more
accurate and
precise quantitation
4500
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
Barium
Ind. Guideline - Non-Barite Site
Ag/Nat Guideline - Non-Barite Site
Lab A Lab B Lab C
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33. % Recoveries Told the Story
Minimum and Maximum PAH Standard Recoveries
900
700
500
300
100
Recovery (%)
PLAINTIFF DATA
Soil Attic
Dust
House
Dust
146%
965%
138%
65% 44%
EPA Maximum Recovery 150%
EPA 0% Minimum Recovery 25%
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34. What About QA-QC Samples?
• Do you need trip and/or field blanks?
– Submit as blind samples
• Do you need a duplicate?
– Submit as a blind duplicate
• Do you need to understand analytical
variability?
– Lab duplicate, injection duplicate?
• Do you need to prove accuracy?
– Reference materials (certified or secondary)
www.chemistry-matters.com 34

35. Data Validation Terminology
To help minimize ambiguity and increase consistency, USEPA
has put forth the following terminology regarding data
verification and validation:
Stage 1 Validation
• Completeness check and compliance of sample receipt conditions
Stage 2A Validation
• Stage 1 + sample related QA-QC checks
Stage 2B Validation
• Stage 2A + instrument QA-QC checks
Stage 3 Validation
• Stage 2B + recalculation checks
Stage 4 Validation
• Stage 3 + review of actual instrument outputs
Guidance for Labeling Externally Validated Laboratory Analytical Data for Superfund Use, USEPA, 2009.
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36. Responsibility of Legal Sampling
• Samples should be collected, handled,
packaged, and tested in accordance
with a checklist of procedures contained
in a sampling plan
– Part of a QAPP
• You may be required to identify the
sample collected and to explain the
sampling procedures that were followed.
• Mistakes or deficiencies in procedures
may damage the evidence/data
presented.
• If a mistake in procedure has been
made:
– the mistake should be recorded and a
fresh start at sampling should be initiated
• If a mistake has occurred, under no
circumstances should you attempt to
cover up the mistake or continue with
your sampling procedures in the hope
that the mistake will not be noticed.
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37. Investigation Road Map
Field Event
Data Quality
-How to control?
-Why check?
Sampling Design
Reporting
DQOs
QAPP
-3rd Party review
-implications of data quality
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38. Questions?
More Information:
www.chemistry-matters.com
Twitter: Chem_Matters
csandau@chemistry-matters.com
www.chemistry-matters.com 38