Conducting Historical Research for Environmental and Engineering Firms

We have received an increasing number of research inquiries from environmental and engineering firms in recent years. This is no surprise given the fact that so many of the projects these firms take on deal with sites that have complex histories involving several prior owners and occupants or aging building structures in need of significant repair. The experts from these firms, including environmental, chemical, and civil engineers, turn to us when their projects have ground to a halt because they lack crucial information needed to move forward with major work, from redeveloping a contaminated industrial site, to understanding the structural history of an older building, to confirming who has the rights related to railways or water resources.

Environmental and engineering firms conduct in-depth, on-site investigations that involve a range of sophisticated statistical research. Often, they rely on data sets and cataloged maps within commercial databases as part of this research. Basic historical information may be included as part of a Phase 1 or other similar environmental report for a contaminated site, which then often gets repeated in subsequent reports and investigative documents. But complex questions on difficult sites will most certainly remain unanswered, potentially serious omissions made, and probable risks undermanaged if a deeper dive into historical records is not attempted. Archival corporate records could provide much needed insight into the chemicals used as part of historic operations and activities that once took place at an industrial site in need of remediation, for example. Were polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) ever used on the site? Were volatile organic compounds (VOCs) ever released as part of an industrial process at the site? Knowing the answer to such questions can help guide investigations as firms seek to understand the resulting types and levels of contamination. To be sure, such knowledge could inform a firm’s sampling plan by helping it to pinpoint the exact location(s) of the contamination source and/or by reducing the number of possible analytes required for analysis, thus saving it time and money.

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Even more information could be gleaned from other available information sources that are tucked away within collections at all kinds of public repositories. As an example, we reviewed niche trade literature to fully understand how the chemicals used in a single piece of industrial equipment manufactured in the mid-20th century led to the widespread contamination of an industrial site that required substantial environmental remediation decades later. Our research effort provided the answers our client had been looking for but that had previously proved elusive.

Where would an environmental firm go to locate historical documents like trade literature? How would they track down relevant journals and access them when such documentation is not easily discoverable with a few strokes of a keyboard or quick search of an internet browser? And how can relevant trade literature – or any other kind of historical documentation – be easily narrowed down so that both time and money are not wasted? The short answer is, it is hard without expertise and knowledge of public records and record keeping systems. Conducting historical research is part art, part science, which our trained researchers intimately understand given their vast range of experience. There is a wealth of information at federal, state, and local repositories that we regularly target to identify the documents environmental and engineering firms need.

We are ideally situated in Washington, D.C., the central location for many national records repositories, so we can easily begin a probe of relevant historical record collections. For instance, we have conducted many document reviews and retrievals at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for engineering firms that have questions pertaining to railroad right-of-way issues. We have been able to furnish these firms with Interstate Commerce Commission valuation maps, Land Acquisition Schedules, and Land Appraisal Field Notes. These records can shed light on the historical lineage of current railroad lines for our clients as well as prove useful for creating boundary surveys.  

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Engineering firms have also utilized our services to obtain drawings, maps, and even photographs that can only be found at a federal repository like NARA or the Library of Congress. We recently reviewed obscure aerial photographs, including that of a small county in a northwestern state from the early 20th century, to answer questions related to a water resources engineering issue. We have captured cross sections of ships to help firms understand the layout of vessels and to identify the location of specific areas such as boiler or engine rooms. One firm requested the specifications and schematics for vessels that were going to be sunk to create a breakwater/natural reef. Knowing how the vessels were constructed helped engineers figure out how to properly sink them.

As the above examples demonstrate, historical research should be included as part of any comprehensive investigation or due diligence effort undertaken by environmental and engineering firms. Valuable information can be unearthed from seemingly arcane historical materials that can paint broader, deeper pictures of the multifaceted projects such firms are involved in.