Yesterday, I took the deposition of an engineer and field geologist who had been retained by an insurance company to evaluate the presence of sinkhole activity at my client’s house. The engineering firm performed testing and gave the opinion that there was no sinkhole. However, contrary to the conclusion stated in their report, the actual test results in the report indicated that there was indeed sinkhole activity causing damage to the home. I filed suit against the insurance company for breach of contract.
Interestingly, in its final report, the engineering firm hired by the insurance company wrote that “testing of soil samples was judged to be unnecessary to conduct this study.” However, in his deposition yesterday, the writer of that report, admitted that, contrary to what he wrote in the report, he did indeed test various soil samples with hydrochloric acid. That testing and his test results are documented in handwriting on the boring logs contained in the engineering company’s internal files. HCL testing is the quintessential laboratory test in a sinkhole investigation. The HCL testing was reactive for the presence of the building blocks of limestone, and indicative of dissolved limestone under my client’s residence.Continue Reading Deposition of a Geotechnical Engineer in a Sinkhole Case