Dr. Cohen leads water resources and environmental contamination projects that involve site investigation and remediation, brownfields redevelopment, risk-based corrective action, and modeling of contaminant fate and transport. Dr. Cohen has led water resources and geological investigations throughout the United States and in Turkey. For the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), he completed the first-ever comprehensive environmental assessment of Cyprus’ largest copper mining and mineral processing complex.

Dr. Cohen serves as an expert witness for groundwater contamination cases that have addressed PFAS, MTBE, chlorinated solvents, and other contaminants. In addition to his research and case-study publications, Dr. Cohen is co-editor of the American Geological Institute’s Geoscience Handbook (AGI Datasheets, 4th Edition).

EDUCATION
  • PhD, Geological Sciences, Princeton University, 1992
  • BA, (cum laude) Geology, Cornell University, 1985
REGISTRATIONS

Professional Geologist:

  • Delaware No: S4-0001358
  • Nebraska No: G-0322
  • Pennsylvania No: PG003936
  • South Carolina No: 2814

Registered Geologist:

  • Missouri No: 2004013522
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
  • Contaminant Fate and Transport
  • Water Resources Evaluations
  • Brownfields Investigation/Remediation
  • Risk-Based Corrective Action
  • Environmental Database Management
  • Litigation Support and Expert Testimony
AWARDS AND HONORS
  • Federal Facility Excellence in Site Reuse Award, Certificate of Excellence – Bannister Transformation and Redevelopment Team: 2023
  • National Notable Achievement Award for RCRA Corrective Action (Region 7 – Bannister Transformation and Redevelopment Team), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: 2018
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, Royal Holloway University of London: 1992–1995
  • Fellow of the Geological Society of London: 1992–1995
  • Outstanding Student Research Proposal, Geological Society of America, Sedimentary Geology Division: 1989
  • Meeker Fellowship, Department of Geological and Geophysical Sciences, Princeton University: 1988–1990
  • Harry Hess First Year Prize, Department of Geological and Geophysical Sciences, Princeton University: 1987
  • Chester Buchanan Memorial Prize, Department of Geology, Cornell University: 1985
APPOINTMENTS AND COMMITTEES
  • 2008 – 2023: External Advisory Committee, Department of Earth/Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University (Chair, 2014 to 2018)
  • 1999 – 2013: GeoRef Advisory Committee, American Geological Institute
PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES
  • National Ground Water Association (NGWA)
  • American Geophysical Union (AGU)
  • Geological Society of America (GSA)
REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE
Bannister Federal Complex2024-11-25T22:15:30+00:00
Bannister Federal Complex site photo & Groundwater magazine

Bannister Federal Complex

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CenterPoint Oakland2024-11-21T17:02:07+00:00

CenterPoint Oakland

PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS

  • Cohen, Harvey A., 2025. Finding the Golf Ball in the Grass – Spatial Analysis and a Uranium Surprise during Investigation of an Urban DOE Site, WM2025 Conference, March 9-13, 2025, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

  • Petersen, B., Cohen, H., and Griffin, S., 2025. Design and Sitewide Implementation of an Unconventional Antifouling System for Pumping Wells, WM2025 Conference, March 9-13, 2025, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

  • Cohen, Harvey A. and Erica DiFilippo, 2024. Overlapping Aroclors and the Difficulty of Demonstrating Cleanup Standards – an Example, Batelle Chlorinated Conference, Denver, Colorado, June 2-6.

  • Cohen, Harvey A., K. P. Breslin, and M. T. Rafferty, 2023. A Complex Brownfields Case Study—the Former Bannister Federal Complex, Kansas City, Missouri. Groundwater Monitoring & Remediation, v. 43, no. 3, 129–138. doi: 10.1111/gwmr.12597

  • Breslin, Kevin and H. A. Cohen, 2022. Simultaneous Remediation and Redevelopment of the Bannister Federal Site – Approaches to Waste Management on a Large Scale. 29th Annual AWMA Midwest Section Environmental Technical Conference, Lenexa, Kansas, May 4.

  • Cohen, Harvey A. 2019. Transforming the Bannister Federal Complex – Environmental Challenges of a Simultaneous Remediation / Demolition / Redevelopment Project, SERDP Symposium, Washington DC, December 3-4.

  • Cohen, Harvey A. 2019. Dig and Haul – The “Simple” Remedial Alternative?, EAS Seminar, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, October 16.

  • Cohen, H.A. 2015. The Pressure to Depressurize: Controlling Coastal Plain Aquifer Water Levels for Construction of the Blue Plains Tunnel Terminus. The Geological Society of Washington, April 22, Washington D.C.

  • Cohen, H.A. 2014. Lessons from Development of Source Water Protection Plans, Central Maryland (2012-2014). Maryland Groundwater Symposium, September 24, Baltimore.

  • Papadopulos, S.S, H.A. Cohen, and P. Khambhammettu, 2013. A Semi-Empirical Analytical Model for Designing an Aquifer Depressurization System. Presentation at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Denver, CO: GSA Abstracts with Programs, v. 45, no. 7, p. 397.

  • Cohen, H.A., T. Parratt, and C.B. Andrews, 2013. Comment on “Potential Contaminant Pathways from Hydraulically Fractured Shale to Aquifers.” Groundwater, v. 51, pp. 317-319.

  • Cohen, H.A., 2012. Groundwater Contamination from Hydraulic Fracturing — How Will We Know? Presentation at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Charlotte, NC, November 4-7, 2012: GSA Abstracts with Programs, v. 44, no. 7, p. 520.

  • Cohen, H.A. and N. Love, 2011. Investigation of Vapor Intrusion from an Urban Gasoline Plume in Washington DC Reveals Anomalous Behavior of Tetrachloroethylene (PCE). Presentation at the National Groundwater Association (NGWA) Meeting: Groundwater: Cities, Suburbs, and Growth Areas—Remedying the Past and Managing for the Future, Los Angeles, CA, August 8-9.

  • Cohen, H.A. and M. Karanovic, 2010. The Cameron Run Flood of June 25, 2006: Hydrologic Response to Sediment Aggradation in a Flashy Urban Stream, Northern Virginia. Presentation at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, October 31–November 3, 2010. GSA Abstracts with Programs, v. 42, no. 5, p. 327.

  • Cohen, H.A., J. Choi, J. Hau, and J. Pippin, 2010. Geological Control of Baseflow in the Deer Creek Watershed, Lower Susquehanna River Basin, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Presentation at the Northeastern Section (45th Annual) and Southeastern Section (59th Annual) Joint Meeting, March 13-16, 2010. GSA Abstracts with Programs, v. 42, no. 1, p. 107.

  • Cohen, H.A. and M. Rafferty, 2010. The Former Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base, Kansas City—Strategies and Practice for Risk-Based Corrective Action (RBCA) and Closure of Contaminated Sites. Air Force Restoration and Technology Transfer Workshop, San Antonio, TX April 6-9, 2010.

  • Cohen, H.A. (Susquehanna River Basin Commission), 2008. Deer Creek Water Availability Study. Publication no. 256, p. 84.

  • Wilson, D.H., H. Cohen, M. Tonkin, and D. Dougherty, 2008. S. Remedies — Evaluating Vital Signs with U.S. EPA’s Region 5 Groundwater Evaluation and Optimization System (GEOS). Presentation at the AFCEE Technology Transfer Conference, San Antonio, TX, March 11-14, 2008.

  • Cohen, H.A., M. Tonkin, D. Wilson, and D. Dougherty, 2007. A Systematic Data-Driven Approach to Evaluating Hydraulic Capture at [CERCLA] Sites in USEPA Region 5. Presentation at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, October 28-31, 2007. GSA Abstracts with Programs, v. 39, no. 6.

  • Cohen, H.A., 2007, Site Remediation—- 2006 Annual Report. in Environment, Energy, and Resources Law: 2006 The Year in Review. M.E. Mansfield, ed. American Bar Association, pp. 101-102.

  • Cohen, H.A., and C. Neville, 2006. Chapter 8: “Fate, Transport, and Modeling of Perchlorate in Groundwater.” in Perchlorate: A Scientific, Legal, and Economic Assessment (1st ed.). Hagstrom, E.L., ed. Tucson, AZ: Lawyers & Judges Publishing Company, pp. 267-294.

  • Walker, J.D., and H. Cohen, 2006. The Geoscience Handbook: AGI Data Sheets (4th ed.). Alexandria, VA: American Geological Institute, p. 302.

  • Cohen, H.A., 2004. Groundwater Impacts from Five Millennia of Copper Mining—The Lefka-Xeros Area of Cyprus. Presentation at The Geological Society of America Annual Meeting & Exposition, Denver, CO, November 7-10, 2004. GSA Abstracts with Programs, v. 36, no. 5, pp.567, 243-35, BTH 58.

  • Cohen, H.A., and S. Cousins, 2003. Source Water Assessment of Small Public Water Systems in Baltimore County, MD—Maximizing GIS-Database Linkages for Effective Management. Presentation at the Maryland State-County Ground Water Symposium, September 25, 2003, Baltimore, MD. in Proceedings of the Maryland State-County Ground Water Symposium, p. 6.

  • Cohen, H.A., S. Cousins, J. Pippin, and N. Vollentine, 2003. Source Water Assessment of Small Public Water Systems in Baltimore County, Maryland: Preliminary Results. Presentation at the Association of Ground Water Scientists and Engineers Annual Meeting “Ground Water in Coastal Zones: Availability, Sustainability, and Protection,” Orlando, FL, December 9-12, 2003. in Proceedings of the Association of Ground Water Scientists and Engineers Annual Meeting, Ground Water in Coastal Zones: Availability, Sustainability, and Protection, pp. 19-20.

  • Lolcama, J.L., H. Cohen, and M. Tonkin, 2002. Deep Karst Conduits, Flooding, and Sinkholes: Lessons for the Aggregates Industry. Engineering Geology, v. 65, no. 2-3, pp. 151-157.

  • Cohen, H.A., 2001. Degradation of Chlorinated Solvents in Karst: Constraints and Examples from an Abandoned Landfill Plume. Presentation at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Boston, November 2001.

  • Barka, A., H. Akyüz, H. Cohen, and F. Watchorn, 2000. Tectonic Evolution of the Niksar and Tasova-Erbaa Pull-Apart Basins, North Anatolian Fault Zone: Their Significance for the Motion of the Anatolian Block. Tectonophysics, v. 322, no. 3-4, pp. 243-244.

  • Cohen, H.A., M. Tonkin, and C. Neville, 2000. Determination of Hydraulic Conductivity Distribution in a Heterogeneous Glacial Sand Aquifer: Correlation between Estimates Based on Impeller Flow Meter Data and Grain Size Distributions. Poster presentation at the Society for Sedimentary Geology/International Association of Sedimentologists Research Conference, Environmental Sedimentology: Hydrogeology of Sedimentary Aquifers, Santa Fe, NM, September 24-27, 2000.

  • Lolcama, J.L., and H. Cohen, 1999. Sinkholes and Land Development: Planning to Avoid Costly Failure. Land Development, v. 11, no. 3, pp. 9-11.

  • Lolcama, J.L., H. Cohen, and M. Tonkin, 1999. Deep Karst Conduits, Flooding, and Sinkholes: Lessons for the Aggregates Industry. Presentation at Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology of Sinkholes and Karst 1999. in Proceedings of the Seventh Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karst, Harrisburg / Hershey, PA, April 10-14, 1999.

  • Lolcama, J.L., and H. Cohen, 1997. Karst Hydrogeology for the Aggregates Industry. Presentation to members of the Maryland Aggregate Association, June 11.

  • Cohen, H.A., and S. Hardy, 1996. Numerical Modeling of Stratal Architectures Resulting from Differential Loading of a Mobile Substrate. in Salt Tectonics. Alsop, G., D. Blundell, and I. Davison, eds. Geological Society of America Special Publication 100, pp. 265-273.

  • Cohen, H.A., and K. McClay, 1996. Sedimentation and Shale Tectonics of the Northwestern Niger Delta Front: Marine and Petroleum Geology, v. 13, pp. 313-328.

  • Onstott, T.C., H. Cohen, C. Miller, and J. Golden, 1996. Applications for UV Laser Microprobe to 40Ar/39Ar Dating of Fine-Grained Diagenetic Minerals. Presentation at the American Geophysical Union Spring Meeting, Baltimore, MD, May 20-24, 1996. in Eos, v. 77, p. 92.

  • Cohen, H.A., 1995. Salt and Shale Tectonics in Continental Margin Settings. Presentation at the Structural Interpretation in Sedimentary Basins, Fault Dynamics Short Course, July 24-28, 1995.

  • Cohen, H.A., C. Dart, H. Akyuz, and A. Barka, 1995. Syn-Rift Sedimentation and Structural Development of the Gediz and Buyuk Menderes Graben, Western Turkey: Journal of the Geological Society of London, v. 152, pp. 629-638.

  • Cohen, H.A., C. Hall, and N. Lundberg, 1995. 40Ar/39Ar Dating of Detrital Grains Constrains the Provenance and Stratigraphy of the Seymour Canal Formation, Gravina Belt, Southeastern Alaska: Journal of Geology, v. 103, pp. 327-337.

  • Cohen, H.A., F. Watchorn, H. Akyuz, and A. Barka, 1995. Sedimentation Patterns in the Niksar and Erbaa-Tasova Pull-Apart Basins, North Anatolian Fault Zone, Turkey. Presentation at the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Annual Meeting, Houston, Texas, March 5-8, 1995.

  • Dart, C.J., H. Cohen, H. Akyuz, and A. Barka, 1995. Basinward Migrating Rift Border Faults: Implications for Facies Distribution and Preservation Potential. Geology, v. 23, pp. 69-72.

  • Cohen, H.A., 1994. Counter-Regional Faulting in Response to Salt and Shale Tectonics: Examples from the Gulf of Mexico and Western Africa. Presentation at the Fault Dynamics Project Workshop, Egham, England, March 28-30, 1994.

  • Cohen, H.A., and S. Hardy, 1994. Differential Loading of Mobile Substrates: Constraints from Nature and Computer Modeling. Presentation at the Fault Dynamics Project Workshop, Egham, England, March 28-30, 1994.

  • Cohen, H.A., C. Dart, H. Akyuz, and A. Barka, 1994. Structural Development of the Gediz and Buyuk Menderes Graben, Western Turkey: Effect of Basinward Migration of Faulting on Half-Graben Sedimentation. Presentation at the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado, June 12-15, 1994.

  • Hardy, S., and H.A. Cohen, 1994. Numerical Modeling of the Effect of Delta-Induced Differential Loading on a Mobile Substrate. Presentation at the Salt Tectonics Meeting of the Petroleum Group of the Geological Society, London, September 14-15, 1994.

  • Cohen, H.A., F. Watchorn, H. Akyuz, and A. Barka, 1994. Plio-Pleistocene Sedimentation in the Erbaa-Tasova and Niksar Strike-Slip Basins, North Anatolian Fault Zone, Turkey. British Sedimentological Research Group, Geological Society of London Annual Meeting, December 18-20, 1994.

  • Cohen, H.A., R. Cumbest, and T. Onstott, 1993. Alumina Ceramic as a Mounting Medium for Electron Microprobe Analysis and 40Ar/39Ar Laser Microprobe Dating of Mineral Grains: Chemical Geology, v. 106, no. 3-4, pp. 443-452.

  • Cohen, H.A., and N. Lundberg, 1993. Detrital Record of the Gravina Arc, Southeast Alaska: Petrology and Provenance of Seymour Canal Formation Sandstones: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 105, pp. 1400-1414.

  • Cohen, H.A., and K. McClay, 1993. Shale Tectonics and Sedimentation on the Northwestern Niger Delta Front. Presentation at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts, October 1993.

  • Cohen, H.A., 1992. Stratigraphic, Sedimentologic, and Provenance Constraints on Evolution of the Gravina Belt, Northern Southeast Alaska. PhD Dissertation, Princeton University, 275 p.

  • Cohen, H.A., R. Cumbest, and T. Onstott, 1992. Alumina Ceramic Adhesive as a Mounting Medium for Microprobe Analysis, Irradiation, and 40Ar/39Ar Laser Dating of Loose Mineral Grains. Presentation at the American Geophysical Union 1992 Spring Meeting, Montreal, Canada, May 12-16, 1992. in Eos,v. 73, no. 14, Supplement, p. 364.

  • Hanger, R.A., and H. Cohen, 1992. Reworked Cleiothyridina sp. in the Seymour Canal Formation (Jurassic-Cretaceous), Southeastern Alaska. Paleobios, v. 14, pp. 1-2.

  • Cohen, H.A., N. Macleod, and N. Lundberg, 1991. Cretaceous ChertClasts in the Gravina Belt, Southeast Alaska: Evidence for a Contemporaneous Oceanic Source Terrane. Presentation at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, San Diego, California, November 1991.

  • Cohen, H.A., and N. Lundberg, 1990. Jura-Cretaceous Sedimentation on the Eastern Slope of the Wrangellian Microcontinent: Lithofacies of the Seymour Canal Formation, Gravina Belt of Northern Southeast Alaska. Presentation at the Geological Society of America, Cordilleran Section, 86th Annual Meeting, Tucson, AZ, March 14-16, 1990. in GSA Abstracts with Programs, v. 22, no. 3, p. 3.

  • Cohen, H.A., and N. Lundberg, 1990. Sandstone Petrology of the Seymour Canal Formation (Gravina-Nutzotin Belt): Implications for the Accretion History of Southeast Alaska. Presentation at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado, October 1990.

  • Cohen, H.A., T. Onstott, N. Lundberg, and C. Hall, 1990. 40Ar/39Ar Laser Probe Dating of Detrital Phenocrysts to Constrain the Age of Volcanism, Gravina Belt, Southeast Alaska. Presentation at the American Geophysical Union 1990 Fall Meeting, San Francisco, California, December 3-7, 1990. in Eos, v. 71, no. 43, p. 1617.

  • Cohen, H.A., and A. Gibbs, 1989. Is the Equatorial Atlantic Discordant? Precambrian Research, v. 42, pp. 353-369.

DEPOSITION & TESTIMONY EXPERIENCE

DEPOSITIONS

  • 2024 – Stephen P. Sutton et al. v. W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc., U.S. District Court of Maryland, No. 1:22-cv-1471-BAH, June 24.

  • 2022 – New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection et al. vs E.I. Dupont De Nemours and Company, et al. United States District Court, District of New Jersey, Civil Action 2:19-cv-19758-JMV-JBC. October 11 and November 16.

  • 2017 – Crown Central LLC v. Petroleum Marketing Investment Group, LLC et al. Circuit Court for Baltimore County, Maryland. 03-C-16-010774CN. November 7 & 29.

  • 2016 – Go Fast Charters vs. Texaco Caribbean. Superior Court of the Virgin Islands, Division of St. Thomas and St. John. ST-10-CV-672. June 30.

  • 2014 – Michael Axelsson, et al. vs. Drake Petroleum Co. et al. Circuit Court for Harford County, Maryland. No. 12-C-13-003695. August 14.

  • 2014 – Jerilyn Allen et al. vs. ExxonMobil Corporation et al. Circuit Court of the State of Maryland, County of Baltimore. No. 03-C-11-008536. April 9.

  • 2014 – New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection et al. vs Exxon Mobil Corporation f/k/a Exxon Corporation and Kinder Morgan Liquids Terminals, LLC a/k/a GATX Terminals Corporation. Superior Court of New Jersey. No. GLO-L-1063-07. February 20.

  • 2010 – New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection et al. vs Exxon Mobil Corporation a/k/a Exxon Corporation and Kinder Morgan Liquids Terminals, LLC a/k/a GATX Terminals Corporation. Superior Court of New Jersey. No. GLO-L-1063-07. August 27.

  • 2009 – Morrison Enterprises and the City of Hastings, Nebraska vs. Dravo Corporation. U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska. No. 4:08-CV-3142. July 24.

  • 2008 – Jeff Alban et al. vs. ExxonMobil Corporation et al. Circuit Court of the State of Maryland, County of Baltimore. No. 03-C-06-010932. August 21.

TESTIMONY

  • 2008 – Jeff Alban et al. vs. ExxonMobil Corporation et al. Circuit Court of the State of Maryland, County of Baltimore.03-C-06-010932. October 16.