CDR Associates has done a variety of case studies dealing with superfund sites, environmental cleanup and corporate practices.

Case Studies

CDR performs complex and controversial public policy, environmental, and site specific mediations. CDR often uses its assessments to help determine how parties can best proceed to address issues that arise in the context of planning, public interest lawsuits, governmental decision-making processes, and other situations.

Contact CDR Staff for assistance:

Jonathan Bartsch
Suzanne Ghais
Mary Margaret Golten
Bernard Mayer
Julie McKay
Chris Moore
Louise Smart
Susan Wildau
Peter Woodrow

For Situation Assessments click HERE.

Examples of Case Studies

(If you would like an adobe printable copy click on the underlined text)

Chemical Company/Community Group (1997). Successfully mediated a highly contentious dispute between a large chemical company and a neighborhood community group of a large metropolitan area regarding a major hydrochloric acid spill in the neighborhood. Though the spill did not cause physical damage, it did cause enormous concern to this already stressed, low-income community bordered by two major interstate highways and two railroad lines and with five Superfund sites within one and one-half miles.
Here is the CBI case-studywrite up.pdf.

The Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission (GCVTC) was established by the U.S. Congress in the Clean Air Act, as amended in 1990. The purpose of the Commission was to develop proposals for consideration by the Director of USEPA regarding measures needed to remedy existing visibility impairment (haze) and to prevent future impairment at sixteen designated national parks and wilderness areas in the Southwest . Because air pollution does not respect state boundaries, a regional approach was needed.

Murray Smelter Site: An Example Of Proactive, Creative Problem Solving At A Superfund Site Louise Smart, Partner, CDR Associates and Bonita Lavelle, Remedial Project Manager, EPA Region 8 (1998). Collaborative problem-solving meetings on the Murray Smelter Site, conducted over a seven-month period, resulted in: (1) a remediation plan which has the support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (UDEQ), the primary potentially responsible party (Asarco), the City of Murray, and all the current property owners; (2) a plan for redevelopment of the site which will benefit the City, the community, and the property owners; and (3) a commitment to integrate implementation of remedial actions into redevelopment activities.

Building Consensus for Change Within a Major Corporation: The Case of Levi Strauss & Co. by Judy Mares-Dixon, Julie A. McKay, and Scott R. Peppet (1994). Motivated to actualize and further the consensus-based and people-oriented vision at LS&CO., in 1994 the company began to examine its internal practices and procedures for resolving non-union employee conflicts. At the initiative of an early and vocal champion -- Joann Russell, Associate General Counsel -- LS&CO. embarked on a project to study its existing dispute resolution systems, identify avenues for change, and design, implement and evaluate a new set of processes for managing disputes. With the help of outside consultants from CDR Associates, by 1997 LS&CO. had a new conflict resolution program (CRP) in place in four pilot sites across the United States.