Responding to the inspector general's report, the agency said it continued to believe that the Bank of America settlement was "appropriate and reasonable".
Kevin McAllister, a marine scientist who holds the informal title of Peconic Baykeeper, said the settlement was appropriate for the December 1999 spill but overlooked more than 2,500 discharge permit violations.
Mr. Cardozo, speaking generally, said settlements were appropriate in cases where the police had erred and someone was harmed.
Finally, a case study whereby the method was applied in the field was conducted; the pre-nailing technique was found to be particularly useful for reducing surface settlement and is appropriate for shallow, soft-ground tunneling.
"As a result," Mr. Olivera said, "we believe a settlement is an appropriate course of action at this time".
The focus of creating built environments without recognizing what is appropriate to a particular settlement is a common and frequent failure in many post disaster development projects.
A rephrasing of Theodosius Dobzhansky's famous maxim is appropriate here: "Nothing in the study of the New World settlement makes sense except in the light of evolution".
"Under the terms of this settlement, Andrew Hamerling will not pay a penny, which, given the facts of the case, is appropriate," his lawyer, Jeffrey M. Kaplan, said last night.
With respect to the design of pile foundations, accurate prediction of pile settlement is necessary to ensure appropriate structural and serviceability performance.
"That's compatible with the global settlement ranges that we believe are appropriate in this case".
