UNION COLLEGE

Environmental Science, Policy & Engineering Program

Fall 2025

Environmental Forensics

ENS-299

Lectures: TTH 10:55 - 12:40 PM, Olin 306.

Office hours: immediately after class or request an appointment.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

An interdisciplinary course that will present topics detailing the intersection between the environment, ethics, law, society, litigation, policy, economics, pollution/contamination, cleanup, testing, standards, and sustainability. Sources of environmental problems are usually related to emissions, pollution, contamination, and/or waste disposal. Whether the cause is intentional or non-intentional, natural factors or a man-made disaster, or due to normal operation or accident, a crisis ensues and cleanup becomes necessary. This inevitably leads to legal actions and litigations that rely on experts in conducting scientific investigations to establish the facts surrounding potential controversies. Topics discussed in the course include liability, environmental site assessment, insurance litigation, toxic torts, science tools, sampling & measurements, statistical analysis, chemical fingerprinting, contaminant transport models, and environmental forensic microscopy. The course will illustrate the above points using case studies.

COURSE GRADE

• Term Test (6th week) = 25%
• Class Participation = 15%
• Two Position Papers = 15%
• Term Paper & Presentation = 20%
• Final Examination = 25%

NOTES

• Attendance of exams is mandatory.
• If you must miss the midterm test due to extraordinary circumstances beyond your control (a letter from the Dean of Students will be required in this case), your 25 points of the midterm test will be automatically transferred to the final exam, i.e., your final will be graded out of 50 points. No makeup for the midterm test will be allowed for any reason. If you miss the midterm without a supporting letter from the Dean of Students, there will be 5 points penalty, i.e., the maximum score you can earn in your final is 45/50.
• If you must miss the final exam due to extraordinary circumstances beyond your control (a letter from the Dean of Students will be required in this case), your grade in the course will be prorated based on the components of your term work. No makeup for the final exam will be allowed for any reason.
• Students are randomly selected to participate in class discussion. If you are unprepared or absent without documentation (a formal note from a doctor, nurse, coach, dean of students, etc.), this will impact participation credit.
• Due date for assigned course work will be announced in class. Late submission of course work is assessed at -1 point per day or part thereof.
• The academic performance of the students in this course will be held to the standards of Union College's Honor Code.
• Students with disabilities will be accommodated as per Union College's Policy.

TEXTBOOK

Sullivan, P.J., Agardy, F.J., and Traub R.K. (2000). Practical Environmental Forensics: Process and Case Histories, Wiley & Co. (ISBN-10 0471353981 )

COURSE SYLLABUS

ENVIRONMENTAL FORENSICS POSITION PAPERS

Published materials detailing various components of a case involving environmental forensics will be given as an assigned reading. Because cases take place within a certain societal setting, in addition to the environmental and forensics-related factors, the case may involve other issues such as history and culture. Students are expected to dissect the elements involved in the case and express their opinion regarding the reported incident(s), response(s) of various actors, and the resolution or final outcome. The position paper is designed to be a platform for students to state whether or not they thought that events reported in the case resulted in "fair" and "reasonable" conclusions. If the conclusions are deemed or viewed as unfair or unreasonable, students are expected to detail how they thought better conclusions could be reached and what these conclusions could have been. Opinions articulated in this page position paper must be presented in a logical and sensible fashion. The arguments students make must be based on a thorough analysis of the incident(s) that the assigned article contains. This will achieve several goals: evaluation of the evidence and its quality, conducting of analysis that leads to rational conclusions, and development of professional writing skills to produce a report-like paper that closely matches industry standards. After grading the paper, the instructor will summarize expressed students positions and report it to the class. This will be followed by an open forum in which all facts relevant to the case will be presented, discussed, analyzed, debated, and examined in the classroom. The first and second position papers are due in the 4th and 7th week, respectively.

ENVIRONMENTAL FORENSICS STAKEHOLDER MEETING

A stakeholder meeting will be held for the students in this course in which the class will be divided to groups of students and various roles will be given to each group. On the day of the meeting, every group will be given the opportunity to offer their view of the case under consideration. Arguments and counter arguments will be allowed in a professional setting facilitated by course instructor. Various groups will be asked to respond to what they deem as flaws in the position of others and correct, or at least shed light, on what they perceive as erroneous analysis. This meeting constitutes a component of class participation.

ENVIRONMENTAL FORENSICS TERM PAPER

The final term paper is a research paper with a scope wider than that addressed in position papers. Having developed an organized process of thought in the short position papers completed during the term, each student will be asked to do the same task on a complex case with many interwoven parameters that cannot be easily dissected. In this kind of exercise students will get exposure to real-world scenarios and get to sense the frustration that these types of cases usually generate due to the inability to easily define right and wrong. Students will present their paper to the class in the last week of the term and be prepared to answer questions from the instructor as well as from their peers.

 The term paper in this course should be thought provoking in addressing an issue related to environmental forensics. Define the issue, indicate its relevance, show why it matters, state its impact and dimensions, and help the reader appreciate the elegance of your arguments

Paper Subject

• Students in this course are to select a subject relevant to an environmental forensics theme for their term paper.
• Students can select their subject at anytime during the course but no later than the 7th week of the term. All papers must be on different subjects.
• A student that was the first in selecting a given subject would be the only one entitled to it. The earlier you select a subject, the wider the selection available to you.
• You can drop a subject you selected and select a different one as long as this is done no later than the 7th week of the term (provided that the new subject had not been previously taken by another student).
• Once you settled on a subject, upload to Nexus a title for your paper and a brief description of your intended subject. The instructor will provide you with feedback on the viability of the selected subject.

Resources

• Students may collect the materials (technical and non-technical) for their chosen project from one or more of the following sources (in no specific order): the Internet, publications, professional journals, magazines, textbooks, movies, documentaries, and all other credible sources including interviews with knowledgeable and experienced individuals.
• Students are required to cite in their paper all the sources they used in their research in the form of "References", "Bibliography", Works Cited", "Footnotes", or any standard method of citation. Internet sites are cited using the address (URL) of those sites. All other references are to be cited with the name of author, year, title of paper or book, page, and publisher.
• Students are responsible for checking the accuracy of materials obtained from Internet sources. Many Internet sources are not peer-reviewed and may lack credibility. Remember that in this day and age, any one can publish anything on the Internet. This does not qualify published materials to be worthy of an academic endeavor such as a term paper.

Submittals

Papers should be a Word document or PDF. There is no minimum or maximum page limit for papers. In addition to the text, students may wish to supplement their papers with proper photos, pictures, tables, graphs, charts, and figures. Supplementing materials must be referenced at least once in the text of the paper.

Paper Grading Criteria

Students taking this course will receive Engineering/Technology/Society (ETS) credit. Classroom presentations and discussion will promote critical thinking to enable students to evaluate evidence, results, and claims related to the natural sciences/engineering/technology and their impact on broader human or societal issues. In their written paper and in their oral presentation, students are expected to highlight and detail principles similar to those listed above. The grade in this term paper will be assigned based on the quality and depth of thought, organization, and relevance of content to the subject under consideration, understanding, clarity of presentation, and demonstration of ability to address questions with comprehension.

STUDENTS TAKE AWAY

1. Students will develop an understanding that pollution, contamination, and waste disposal problems have very serious consequences on the lives of humans as well as all living creatures.
2. Students will develop a fresh perspective regarding rules, laws, specifications, and regulations that control and govern the activities that may harm the environment.
3. Students will appreciate the inherent value in the scientific approach to do analysis and reach conclusions. Recent scientific advances will revolutionize the field of environmental forensics.

SUGGESTED REFERENCE (a source for more information)

Murphy, B.L. and Morrison, R.D. (2007). “Introduction to Environmental Forensics,” 2^nd, edition, Academic Press (ISBN-10: 0123695228)

ASTM STANDARD SPECIFICATIONS

• ASTM E1527−13. Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process

• ASTM E1903−11. Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase II Environmental Site Assessment Process

• ASTM E2247−16. Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process for Forestland or Rural Property.

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