Confidential Case Involving a Major Oil Company

Analysis Group supported an academic expert in a lawsuit against a major oil company accused of improperly storing, transporting, and disposing of various petroleum products, causing contamination of the soil and groundwater. Analysis Group reviewed the plaintiff’s analysis of economic damages to property owners. Our investigation revealed a number of conceptual, empirical, and mathematical errors in the plaintiff’s hedonic analysis. Our expert demonstrated that, for a hedonic property model to be accurate, one must specify the timing of the alleged hazard, demonstrate that homeowners’ perceptions of the hazard were accurate, and estimate the changes in home prices only once the hazard occurs.