Customer Reviews

Environmental Forensics: Principles & Applications

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This is a tremendous, one of a kind book for environmental consultants and environmental attorneys. Dr. Morrison provides real world case studies and ideas concerning identifying the source and age of contaminants that are so often at issue in environmental cases dealing with subsurface contamination. The book is heavily referenced and includes numeous figures and tables which complement the text. This is the only book on this new and emerging science and I would recommend it to anyone practicing in this field.

The good points for this book are the scope of the discussion; Most of Chapter 3, Identification of Biased Environmental Data; and, the color plates. However, there are some notable errors in the book and strong statements that deserve quite obvious and important caveats. There is no discussion of the importance of effective porosity. Using the wrong porosity value is a common error used to bias analyses of contaminant transport velocity. There are errors such as stating that organic carbon is associated with clay content, which is completely wrong in many parts of the country where clay residuum dominates. Clay minerals have no carbon content themselves, but may be associated with organic materials in alluvial settings. There are many such problems with this book and I am hesitant to offer it to those learning the practice because of all the corrections I'd need to make.

It may be that the book is a good work, but some mistakes make it hard to believe. As a simple but illustrative example, on page 315 the author says that some synonyms of carbon tetrachloride (formula CCl4) are "carbon disulphide, carbon disulfide" and some others that are not, in any way, related to carbon tetrachloride but to other chemical (formula CS2). If this so obvious mistake is found, how many others, not so obvious might be in the book?

I haven't read the book, but this is a word of warning from an enviromental professional, and former expert witness in aerial photographic interpretation.

Beware so called survey books. Any book that purports to cover a topic as complex as environmental site investigation in under 400 pages has to and ought to be looked at skeptically.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Granted it might be useful to lawyers, you know, the bunch that are first with the obvious. By the title, I gather that is the audience the author is pandering to.

My 6 year degree in geology and remote sensing did not totally prepare me for my role as an expert in aerial photo interpretation. Several thousand pages of additional reading and countless hours behind a stereoscope did.

So see the book for what it appears to be, an expensive overview of a very complex and interrelated discipline that should only be dabbled into by trained scientists and environmetal engineers.

I find myself referring to this book on a daily basis.
A must have for anyone in the Environmental Industry.