Deposing a Chief Financial Officer

After establishing that there is existing equipment suitable for an industrial operation that will produce less contamination of air, water, and soil, the question of cost must be addressed. Industrial and commercial defendants usually attempt to plead that the installation of state-of-the-art equipment just to reduce pollution is extremely costly and that the defendant corporation lacks the funds to replace the equipment.

To counter this argument, plaintiff’s counsel should subpoena the depreciation schedules from the defendant’s most recent federal income tax return. As soon as the records are produced, counsel should locate the items identified by the facility manager as principal sources of pollution and determine their age and extent of depreciation recovered. If necessary the chief financial officer (CFO), comptroller, or treasurer of the corporation should be subpoenaed and asked the following questions which should elicit the appropriate information.