ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the industrial waste engineering community with insight into the different areas that a technical specialist can contribute towards the successful disposition of a law suit involving allegations of environmental contamination. It attempts to take the specialist through the litigation process by identifying the legal issues and defenses most commonly encountered and describe how specialists have participated in that process from initial assessment of the claim to trial. Forensic Engineering is a general term applied to the technical specialist who undertakes to investigate an alleged release of chemical substances into the environment and identify the causes and damages associated with the release. It also refers to the participation of such a specialist as an expert witness in a hazardous waste Lawsuit. As with most other areas of law, it is the plaintiff's burden to prove each element of a claim in a hazardous waste law suit.
