Forensic Investigations

Challenge: A major renewable biogas facility experienced operational issues and concerning environmental emissions. The owner, a large international energy firm, sought approximately $74 million in damages due to its closure from the County and State of Colorado.

Solution: EPS conducted an analysis of the facility's technology, operational performance, and environmental emissions, providing insightful technical analysis of the facility, its regulatory compliance, and economic viability.

Result: The technical assessment and financial appraisal determined that the fair market value of the facility was effectively zero.

Challenge: A major manufacturing facility experienced benzene contamination in their major aerosol consumer product products, risking public safety and brand reputation.

Solution: EPS was engaged to lead a multidisciplinary team into the investigation of the carcinogenic contamination and, within 3 weeks, determined the origin of the contaminations, the manufacturing process causes, and the implementation of effective changes to the quality assurance procedures.

Result: Corrective and preventative manufacturing practices were implemented to cease production and recall affected products, preventing future contaminations and ensuring compliance with consumer safety expectations.

Challenge: A renewable municipal waste-to-energy technology and equipment provider faced allegations of design defects, including faulty equipment, poor operational controls, unwanted byproducts, and inconsistent environmental emissions.

Solution: EPS conducted a detailed engineering analysis of the technology and equipment to determine and confirm its superior performance while identifying severe issues with the owner’s equipment, processing out-of-specification waste materials, poor water treatment, and unreliable environmental controls.

Result: EPS determined the root causes of the owner’s operational issues, enabling effective operational changes and eliminating alleged rectification works and damages, thereby saving substantial costs for the technology provider and facility owner.

Challenge: A steel mill facility experienced chronic materials handling and operational issues, including a catastrophic collapse and shutdown during a severe snowstorm.

Solution: EPS conducted a thorough engineering and equipment maintenance assessment, including site inspections and a appraisal of the equipment and blast furnace operations. .

Result: The evaluation determined negligible damages to the client, a controls and equipment supplier, providing a clear quantification of risks for the resolution of the dispute through impartial engineering and appraisal analysis.

Challenge: An energy technology developer encountered allegations of design defects and material and liquidated damages from a customer.

Solution: EPS conducted an in-depth forensic investigation of the gasifier technology, including engineering reviews and appraisals of the equipment value at different stages of its technology lifecycle.

Result: EPS provided expert testimony that demonstrated no evidence of the alleged defects, supporting a favorable resolution of approximately $70 million for the client and substantiation of the energy conversion technology’s continued fair market value.

Challenge: A major oil refinery experienced a catastrophic explosion in Superior, Wisconsin, resulting in extensive property damage, injuries to over 70 workers, and the evacuation of 27,000 residents due to a release of hazardous chemicals into the community.

Solution: EPS conducted an insightful forensic investigation accurately, determining the root causes of the equipment failures, operational procedures, safety procedure failures, generation of blast waves, and the release of hazardous chemicals.

Result: EPS's investigation and testimony provided prevailing testimony for four lawsuits, including a class action for the community and three workplace injury lawsuits for contract workers.

Challenge: A renewable energy biomass cogeneration plant experienced operational deficiencies, including multiple fires, leading to disputes over the provided technology’s design and performance.

Solution: EPS conducted a forensic investigation, assessed the materials handling and quality, and evaluated the technology’s energy-generating performance.

Result: EPS’s forensic analysis established the absence of design deficiencies, demonstrated the contractual compliance of the technology, and identified the owner’s operational inefficiencies, thereby dismissing the litigation.

Challenge: A steel production facility experienced a catastrophic explosion in an oxygen-enriched atmosphere technology, resulting in the tragic deaths of two workers and serious injuries to another.

Solution: EPS conducted a forensic investigation detailing the failed components and performed an effective root cause analysis of the metallurgy and operating conditions, determining the origin and cause of the worker's injuries and deaths.

Result: The technology provider and associated defendants provided compensation to the estates of the deceased and injured workers.

Challenge: In 2020, an explosion at an industrial facility resulted in three deaths and damaged over 1000 properties in a significant radius of Houston neighborhoods.

Solution: EPS, leveraging its leading forensic methodologies, including advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD), quantified the effects of the explosion, including blast wave propagation through the neighborhoods.

Result: Immediately after the analysis was presented, EPS clients obtained a settlement of $52 million plus undisclosed amounts for approximately 2200 claimants for injuries and damages to their homes.

Challenge: A devastating explosion at a farm silo resulted in significant structural damage and loss of life, with renewable ethanol and fermentation-related causes suspected. However, critical production data and laboratory samples were not preserved by the owner, complicating the investigation.

Solution: EPS engineers performed forensic analyses, including debris mapping, blast force calculations, and process evaluations, to identify the origin and cause of the explosion. EPS’s investigation confirmed the presence of ethanol that had been improperly handled during the biofuel production supply chain.

Result: The investigation determined biofuel manufacturing operational missteps, key safety protocol violations, and destruction of data, resulting in a pre-trial award for the deceased’s family.