Battelle's Geneva office has become a center for environmental projects and agrochemical registration services for government and industry in Europe. As a result, during the past 15 years, Battelle Geneva has encountered and mastered innumerable challenges dealing with the European regulatory environment while faced with diverse cultures, economies, and environments. This has involved constant monitoring and adaptation to changing political, environmental, and economical regulations and situations throughout Europe.

One uniquely challenging project carried out by Battelle Geneva involved a very high degree of contamination from hydrocarbons discovered in the Northern outskirts of Paris. Battelle was contracted to analyze available data in order to verify the client's liability to the polluted region. The goal was to identify the likely sources of the pollutants in order to model their transport into the underground, groundwater, and dissolved phase. Battelle responsibilities included reviewing results of investigations carried out by various companies and regulators, determining the extent of the client's liability, and providing valuable and objective contributions during all discussions and negotiations with the authorities.

In another project, a terrestrial oil spill impacted both agricultural soil and water supply in Northern Italy. Battelle, selected as the sole environmental consulting organization, started its work on site the day after the oil well blow out. The stakeholder situation was particularly challenging since at least 10 parties were involved in the disaster, including our client, AGIP. Other involved parties were the Italian Ministry of Environment, the Regional Environmental Agency (ARPA), the province of Novara (Envir. Dept.), the Trecate and Romentino Municipalities, the residents in the area, the Green Associations, and several insurance companies and farmers. Since precise environmental regulations on this issue did not exist in Italy at the time, Battelle not only planned and developed the activities on behalf of the client but also assisted regulators in defining new policies and procedures related to soil and groundwater remediation. For example, Battelle promoted the implementation of a risk-based approach versus the use of cleanup standards, as a consistent decision-making process for the assessment and cleanup of contaminated sites.

In addition, Battelle performs audits and due diligence work for real estate and industrial site transactions in Europe, South America and Asia. In this capacity, Battelle reviews environmental aspects associated with change of ownership or destination of use, outlines issues surrounding the purchases and offers solutions to address the issues. Through this work, Battelle experts have become familiar with all specific national environmental laws and regulations, and accordingly develop auditing procedures that are consistent and compatible in all countries.

For additional information, contact Dr. Augusto Porta at (011) 41-22-8272650, portaa@battelle.org.