Supporting
Insurance Settlement Negotiations:
Pesticide Use Contributing to Historic Water Contamination
Confidential Client
Working
closely with groundwater specialists at a nationally recognized environmental
engineering firm, Destiny developed detailed maps and custom GIS tools
analyzing historic pesticide use to determine how long-term use could
have contaminated or impacted municipal water wells and area water
supply aquifers. Tools and analysis were delivered on CD-ROM providing
an easy-to-use system for interactive data access and visualization
in insurance settlement negotiations.
Destiny developed a GIS database integrating key map features, electronic
versions of the Natural Resources Conservation Service soil mapping
database, State of California aquifer maps, potentiometric surface
contours, groundwater flow directions and flow rates, pesticide application
areas, and water well locations. Destiny used GIS tools and analyses
to support a critical assessment of scientific and hydrologic processes
determining which pesticide applications, if any, could have contributed
to known areas of contamination. The first known occurrences of pesticide
contamination and known exceedances of water quality standards were
identified, analyzed, and mapped with respect to perceived and real
damages to area drinking water and areas of pesticide application.
The resultant maps portrayed well data, aquifers, and pesticide application
areas illustrating relationships at key points in time. The data,
maps, look-up and viewing tools were delivered on an easy-to-use CD-ROM.
The CD-ROM was used extensively to facilitate interactive negotiations
while using the data and visualizations to examine scenarios and potential
settlements.