When insurance carriers, TPAs, sureties, self-insureds and municipalities face complex environmental claims, issues, cases and projects, having the right expert in place can make all the difference. Providing you clear and concise, fact-based reports, our intimate familiarity with the core issues and their governing regulations, as well as investigations into both their causes and the mistakes often made in their assessment and remediation attempts, Guardian’s Environmental Group serves its clients by answering to higher standards of definitive reporting and evidence collection. This often enables you to settle claims and issues without costly and protracted litigation. When cases cannot be settled out of court, Guardian’s experts stand ready to provide you with complete litigation support services, including trial exhibit preparation and expert testimony. When you’re up against environmental challenges, all parties involved deserve fair and objective determinations of cause, delivered thoughtfully but expeditiously. And that’s why there’s Guardian Group. Grounded in real-world practice, our protocol analyses, alternative strategies and our remediation estimates demonstrate veracity and credibility, so you can resolve issues swiftly and fairly.

When you want to proactively identify and rectify your environmental issues and when environmental challenges arise unexpectedly, you need concrete answers and cost estimates on which you can rely. Our reputation is for helping you mitigate your risks, limiting exposure and resolving the underlying issues with a greater degree of certainty. Expert, expedient determinations of cause are the result of Guardian Group’s extensive experience in the field. It is the priority we place on root cause determinations that enables us to help our clients address their environmental issues, challenges, claims and cases head-on. Further, our proficiency and reputation means our experts are often the ones requested to serve in an independent, neutral capacity, whether reviewing developer or municipality site plans, evaluating the plans and work of another environmental services firm or providing oversight and/or complete remediation services.

At Guardian, we’ve built our reputation on the timely delivery of highly technical information and expert findings. As our track record proves, expedience does not have to mean haste. Methodical in our approach, our 4C Process^™ guides us from Classification (which category and type of problem or problems) and Causation (root and contributing sources and factors) to Culpability (which party or parties were responsible and apportionment thereof) and Cure (evaluation of corrective measures implemented or proposal of new remedy). Additionally, our identifications of cure address not only the field of available solutions, but in environmental claims cases, we often include an analysis of the method chosen and why, including cost and time considerations and impacts.

Environmental specialty areas include:

UNCONTROLLED RELEASES

CLAIMS INVESTIGATIONS | CHEMICAL SPILLS | PRODUCT SPILLS | HAZARDOUS MATERIAL SPILLS | OIL SPILLS |

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

GROUNDWATER | DAMS & DIKES | DREDGING | EARTH MOVEMENT | FLOODS | FOUNDATIONS | PILE DRIVERS | RETAINING WALLS | FOUNDATIONS | SETTLEMENTS | VIBRATIONS | SUBSTRUCTURES | TUNNELS | WELLS & DE-WATERING | LANDFILLS

INDOOR AIR QUALITY

TOXICOLOGY | ASBESTOS | BACTERIA | MOLD

OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES

LEAD PAINT ABATEMENT | WASTE MANAGEMENT | DISPOSAL SITES

ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITS

AIR QUALITY | DISCHARGES | INDUSTRIAL HEALTH & SAFETY | PERMITTING

ENVIRONMENTAL SITE ASSESSMENTS

DOCUMENTATION INVESTIGATIONS | PHYSICAL SURVEYS & INSPECTIONS

ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION & CLEANUP

SOIL | GROUNDWATER | AIR EMISSIONS

GOVERNMENT, DEVELOPER & INDUSTRIAL SERVICES

SITE ASSESSMENTS | DESIGN REVIEWS | PROJECT OVERSIGHT | REMEDIATION

SUBROGATION & LITIGATION SUPPORT

EXPERT TESTIMONY | EXHIBIT PREPARATION | CASE DEVELOPMENT

Guardian’s Environmental Group limits your exposures and safeguards your bottom line, all while protecting the environment. Call us today at 1.888.TO.GUARDIAN.

Just a partial listing of Guardian’s interdisciplinary team includes:

• Accountants
• Asbestos Experts
• Biologists
• Chemists
• Chemical Engineers
• Civil/Structural Engineers
• Demolition & Decontamination Experts
• Environmental Engineers
• Estimators
• Forensic Engineers
• Geologists
• Geotechnical Engineers
• Industrial Hygienists
• Metallurgists
• Mold Specialists
• OSHA Certified Consultants
• Project Managers
• Spill Experts
• Toxicologists

Don’t see the exact expert you need listed above? Not to worry. Guardian’s exhaustive roster of resources includes virtually every type of environmental specialist there is, so we can dispatch the right team of experts to your location without delay. Call us with your specific project, claim, case or site needs today at 1.888.TO.GUARDIAN.

GUARDIAN IN ACTION: LANDFILL REMEDIATION IN THE NORTHEAST

Guardian’s environmental consultants were recently tapped for closure responsibilities on a 50-acre, unregulated landfill that was leaking contaminants into the well field of a local water utility.

Initial site grading had just begun when buried drums were discovered. The site was temporarily shut down to investigate the drums and to prepare for any unknowns in this unique situation. Ground Penetrating Radar was selected as the technique best suited to the investigation. This method of determining anomalies in the substrate utilizes a differential in material density to identify potential objects beneath the surface.

Initial work included clearing and grubbing of the site utilizing a local subcontractor with all generated material remaining on site to reuse as organic matter in re- vegetating the site upon completion. Remediation design called for capping with layers:  structural fill, geo-synthetic liner, geo-membrane drainage layer and vegetative layer.

A support zone was established with zones delineated for decontamination of personnel and equipment upon leaving the work zone.  All site personnel were required to be 40-hour OSHA Hazwoper trained and special classes were conducted for local subcontractors as needed. The equipment was outfitted with bottle racks and hoses to allow for the installation of a cascade system of supplied breathing air. The area with the drums was successfully excavated with all intact drums placed in over-pack containers for sampling, analysis and ultimate disposal.  This entire drum operation was conducted while the other site activities remained operational.

Strict requirements were imposed by the state regarding Erosion and Sediment control including participation in a program designed to minimize runoff from any earth disturbance location. All runoff was to be collected and discharged through sediment basins constructed at both ends of the site. In addition, a series of berms and swales were installed along the 2,500 linear feet of the adjacent rail line. Structural fill to facilitate the correct shape and contour of the finished site was imported at a rate of up to 10,000 cubic yards per day. Layers above the fill included a 40 mil LDPE liner, drainage geo-net and cushioning, non-woven geotextile. Thanks to the expertise, ingenuity and efficiency of Guardian’s technical personnel, methods devised for this layered installation accelerated the project schedule and allowed for completion in one-third less time than anyone had anticipated.

GUARDIAN IN ACTION: SCHOOL LEAD & ASBESTOS ABATEMENT

The installation of a fire alarm control system at a California school campus was the catalyst for Guardian’s environmental specialists to be called to the site. Preliminary investigations of the multi-use buildings, some dating to the school’s founding in 1923, revealed an immediate need for both lead and asbestos abatement.

The hazardous material abatement project included the development of the abatement design for Class IV removal of friable asbestos and abatement cost estimating, progress monitoring and site supervision during the abatement process, preparation of abatement progress reports, oversight of the visual and air sampling collection necessary for final clearance and review of the close out documentation.

Working with the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Facilities Environmental Technical Unit (“FETU”) and Office of Environmental Health and Safety (“OEHS”), Guardian’s personnel oversaw the abatement to ensure regulatory compliance.

Regulatory requirements included: State and Federal Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (“AHERA”), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), California Code of Regulations Construction Industry Safety Orders, and South Coast Air Quality Management District (“SCAQMD”).

When environmental concerns present themselves, Guardian’s ability to deploy immediately, get up to speed rapidly and collaborate with schools, municipalities and private businesses provides clients the confidence they need to surmount the challenges in a cost-effective manner. Our construction and project management experience ensures fair pricing, despite the situation’s urgency, and our environmental expertise helps ensure that all issues will be addressed with a focus on safety, regulatory compliance and the minimization of future disruptions.