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Sample Clementi Environmental
Forensic Evaluation Map
Forensic science (often shortened to forensics) is the application of a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to a legal system. This may be in relation to a crime or a civil action. The word forensic comes from the Latin adjective forensis, meaning “of or before the forum.” This origin is the source of the two modern usages of the word forensic – as a form of legal evidence and as a category of public presentation.
What is an Environmental Forensic Evaluation?
A forensic evaluation of your property or project can be part of a Due Diligence review. It is a review and analysis of the property or project to determine if it was permitted to the rules at that time.
Why Have an Environmental Forensic Evaluation?
Here at Clementi Environmental Consulting, providing you the most economical and efficient design is our standard operating procedure.
Many projects were over-designed during the height of the real estate boom. We can review your permitted project to determine if your project has been permitted or proposed with conditions that are unnecessarily elaborate.
In addition, staff at environmental agencies or local building departments do not review your project design to determine if it is the most economical for you. Instead, these agencies are only concerned if your project meets the rule criteria. More and more, we discover so many projects that have been designed with expensive wetland mitigation designs or elaborate monitoring criteria.
That’s where Clementi Environmental forensic evaluation and review can help lower your expenses.
Here is an example of a project we reviewed. It was the restoration of a peat mine:
The client had to restore his property that was mined by others. Several issues were discovered upon the Forensic Review. Re-grading to gentle slopes and depositing a “dressing” of peat is the standard for restoration of peat mines. The littoral shelf is usually not planted due to the cost, as there is not a great profit margin in peat. No one had determined how much peat was left on site and therefore assumed there was not enough for 80 acres of shelf. The plan involved purchasing peat from a nearby mine.
We also discovered the permitted monitoring plan was far more elaborate given the littoral shelf was not designed to be planted. The cost for peat from a nearby mine was over $200,000.00 and the monitoring plan was proposed at $186,000.00. The monitoring plan was based on five years which is longer than most herbaceous mitigation designs; three years should have been adequate. We were able to determine that there is enough peat to dress the shelf and we are still able to propose moderate planting to accelerate the desired cover.
A minor permit modification was required which should not be a deterrent to accomplish the necessary modifications.
We were able to accomplish all of this for $100,000, saving the client $286,000!
