Environmental Legal Sampling and Forensic Courses 


Courses can be developed to suit the needs of the agency.  They can range from a one to two day short course to a five day or a three week course depending on the needs of the agency.
Two Day Short Courses:  

This short course is entirely lecture oriented and can be extended to a full week course with field exercise.  The short course includes;

Module 1A: An introduction to the co-relation between the economy, pollution and enforcement programs

Module 1: A thourough review of Inspection program planning, equipment needed to conduct basic field assessments and inspections, task hazard analysis (THA) and basic design of a health and safety program. Generic Sampling procedures and photography.

Module 2: Case studies on sampling, dye tests, and preparing a prosecution brief.

Module 3: Basics of ground water sampling, dye tests and case studies.
Two Week Short courses;

The two week short course is usually chosen for the first time a course is presented in a region or to an agency.  

The first week is spent with senior agency staff reviewing the regulatory structure under which the agency must operate, reviewing laboratory and field sampling capacity and equipment. The location of the field exercise is determined and a field scenario is designed and necessary equipment/props, equipment and sampling tools/bottles/kits are procured and prepared.

The second week involves 2.5 days (Monday to Wednesday) of lecture, 0.5 days preparation of the teams for the field scenario, 1.0 day (Thursday) in an outdoor field scenario and 0.5 to 1.0 day (Friday) reviewing the scenario and developing a basic prosecution brief.

Third Week: Preparation of a Prosecution Brief
A third week can be added usually by e-mail where prosecution briefs are submitted electronically for review and critique.
Summary of the Training Modules;
Module 1A - The Environment, The Economy and Enforcement

This module explores the behavior of regulated and non-regulated sectors of the economy in response to regulatory action (or inaction) based on a case study conducted in Canada.  The module looks at how different groups within a sector lead, follow or resist technological change and their response to enforcement actions. This provides a basic understanding of how an agency can design an environmental law enforcement program.

The module draws on the report: "Enforcement vs Voluntary Compliance - An Examination of Strategic Enforcement Initiatives Implemented by the Pacific and Yukon Regional Office of Environment Canada" author Peter K. Krahn.  This internationally recognized study is often quoted in all manner of regulatory literature ranging from environmental issues to health and safety and cancer prevention.
Module 1: Inspection Planning

This module draws on the process of "Critical Path Analysis" to design and develop an inspection plan that will provide a clear path from start to completion.  The module will help the student learn the basics of the technique and apply them to an example industrial sector.  It will allow the student to organize the process, assign resources of time, finances, equipment and staff.

This will allow the student to present a clear project plan to fellow enforcement staff, laboratory staff, and managers.
Module 1: Equipment

Many agencies, especially in developing countries need to know how to start a basic environmental law enforcement program and what type of equipment may be required to meet the sampling and safety needs of the officers.

This part of the Module reviews the basic and essential equipment needed to establish an environmental law enforcement program.
Module 1: Task Hazard Analysis

This portion of the module teaches how to break down an inspection/investigation project or program into its essential elements and examine them for risks to health and safety.

It provides a structured approach to finding solutions to the risk or to minimize the risk and promote commitment to team work and ensuring that health and safety issues are dealt with.
Module 1: Inspection Checklists

The design of an inspection checklist is essential to carrying out consistent environmental regulatory program that may encompass an entire industrial sector, a particular regulation or the requirements for submission of samples to a laboratory.

The checklists are also an essential part of collecting the data necessary to measure the progress and effectiveness of an enforcement program.
Module 1: Photography

Photography plays an essential element in an investigation and is critical to providing context and explaining the scene of the crime, impact and evidence.

A systematic approach to the environmental crime scene is discussed and how the photos and graphics of evidence can be combined to produce a prosecution brief.
Module 1: Generic Site Assessment, Set up, and Safe Entry and Exit

The essential components of responding to a situation and establishing safe operating areas, decontamination, and preservation of evidence are learned.

This begins to combine all the features learned in the previous section of the module.
Module 2: Case Study - Fish Kill

Using the common example of a fish kill due to the dumping of unknown substances, all the essential elements of conducting a forensic environmental investigation are illustrated.

The approach to the scene, decision making, collecting samples, depicting evidence in a prosecution brief are reviewed.
Module 3: Basics in Groundwater Sampling and Dye  
                         Tests.

Groundwater contamination is a serious and growing environmental issue and the essential principles and techniques in ground water sampling and testing are reviewed.

Some of the simpler, low cost techniques that are highly valuable in establishing the reasonable grounds to believe an offence has been or is being committed are illustrated and discussed.

Case studies are presented where these techniques have been used. A groundwater module may be added to the field exercise depending on the time, budget and needs of the agency.
Module 4: Case Studies and Technical Presentations

This module presents more advanced case studies involving larger scale pollution problems, combining water, groundwater, soil pollution, contaminated sites and how the legal investigations were designed, conducted and illustrated.  It will include discussions on how the community reacted to the events and issues related to managing large scale environmental investigations.

The case studies can be expanded to include topics of emergency response and site management.  Often the most critical element of the investigation is gaining control of an emergency situation and preserving the evidence.  Learning the stages of an event, gaining an understanding of how to manage the various parties involved and managing the stress of the situation are important skills to learn.
Module 5: Investigation Techniques, Interviewing, Search and Seizure

The basic techniques of conducting a forensic environmental investigation, especially as it relates to conducting interviews, statement evidence and issues related to search and seizure under non-exigent and exigent circumstances are discussed and practiced.

In class interview exercises illustrate the principles of interviewing and if a field exercise is part of the curriculum, witness interviews usually form part of the scenario.
Module 6: Videos

Videos of actual or simulated cases may be viewed.  The videos will re-enforce the principles and techniques learned in the course.
Module 7:  One Day Simulated Field Exercise

A simulated field exercise is normally developed during the first week in a country by examining potential sites, writing a scenario that matches the scene and acquiring all the equipment necessary to carry out the scenario.

This may involve recruiting staff to portray various people, such as a plant manager, a witness or a person responsible for the environmental infraction.

The scenario adds a realistic test for all the techniques and principles learned in the previous modules.

A prosecution brief may be developed by each participant and submitted to the instructor electronically for review and critique.