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Environmental

Practices

Environmental Litigation

Environmental disputes stand at the intersection of evolving science, aggressive enforcement policies, and expansive liability implications. Our environmental litigation team represents clients across industries in high-stakes matters involving regulatory enforcement, toxic tort and class action claims, Superfund liability, citizen suits, and permit and rule challenges.

We defend companies in civil, criminal, and administrative proceedings while managing exposure, protecting operations, and advancing strategic business objectives. We also help clients minimize environmental liabilities in bankruptcy proceedings.

Our lawyers have extensive experience with federal and state environmental programs and maintain strong working relationships with regulators, legislators, and technical experts, enabling us to craft efficient, informed strategies in even the most complex matters.

Thompson Hine has been named by Best Law Firms® as a Tier 1 national firm in Litigation - Environmental in 2026.

Best Law Firms Tier 1 National

Examples of our experience include:

  • Serving as lead counsel to roofing insulation, textile and chemical manufacturers in PFAS MDL.
  • Defending citizen suits brought under the CAA, CWA, and RCRA against diverse entities, including a municipal airport, a rubber products manufacturer, and a sanitary landfill.
  • Successfully resolving CWA citizen suit notices of intent to sue using a unique pre-litigation settlement model that caps attorney and expert fees, mitigates environmental risks, improves facility operations, and performs supplemental environmental projects.
  • Defending and settling a federal court class action involving a persistent chlorinated hydrocarbon contaminating 20 miles of a nearby stream.
  • Representing one of two defendants in a fish kill case involving federal, state, and class action claims seeking civil damages and penalties exceeding $50 million and federal criminal prosecution under the CWA.
  • Defending a national transportation company in a CWA lawsuit filed by the United States and state of Ohio regarding an accidental spill of diesel fuel in a creek and alleged violations of SPCC regulations.
  • Defending and prosecuting multiphase CERCLA litigation, as well as litigation involving state equivalents of CERCLA.
  • Obtaining dismissal of CERCLA claims against a national chemical shipper in train derailment litigation.
  • Defending chemical manufacturing and aerospace companies in environmental, toxic tort, and employee exposure cases.
  • Serving as common counsel in numerous CERCLA cases involving groundwater, surface water, and stream sediment contamination.
  • Serving as lead counsel on a complex groundwater, soil, and vapor intrusion CERLCA Superfund site – the first in the nation to be listed on the National Priorities List solely for the subsurface (vapor) intrusion pathway. We negotiated administrative orders on consent with EPA and state agencies, agreements with on- and off-site property owners and municipalities, and support of solar installation for green remediation powering groundwater and vapor intrusion mitigation systems.
  • Defending industrial clients against cost recovery and contribution claims under CERCLA and state equivalents, including negotiating and drafting global settlements in multiparty suits and consent decrees in governmental actions. Defending a chemical manufacturer in a multimillion-dollar DOJ/U.S. EPA civil enforcement action for alleged RCRA violations stemming from the accumulation of hazardous waste in railcars.
  • Defending claims relating to odor, noise, traffic, and migrating off-site methane gas allegations made by hundreds of citizens living near a landfill.
  • Developing a streamlined defense to citizens’ suits filed within the various regulatory programs to provide a long-term facility-supported solution with minimal litigation costs.
  • Defending clients in toxic tort actions alleging health effects and property damage claims as well as conspiracy theories, many of which were dismissed on summary judgment.
  • Defending complex environmental litigation suits that include interpretation of environmental indemnity in contracts as well as common law (i.e., nuisance, trespass, negligence, equitable indemnity, unjust enrichment) and statutory claims.
  • Successfully reducing the size of a class in an environmental class action related to alleged river contamination.
  • Defending a chemical manufacturer in a million-dollar U.S. EPA civil enforcement action for alleged violations of FIFRA product labeling requirements.
  • Advising a major unsecured creditor during a Chapter 11 proceeding regarding the appropriate valuation of the debtor’s prepetition environmental liabilities.
  • Defending natural resource damage claims involving sediment, groundwater, and related contamination in numerous states.
  • Defending white-collar criminal cases involving plating and refinishing plants, the scrap and drum recycling industries, and heavy manufacturing and chemical-handling facilities.
  • Defending a client against homeowner and homebuilder claims alleging lead exposure associated with a housing development on a former skeet shooting range property. Obtained summary judgment in favor of the client enforcing the limit of liability and indemnification provisions in its consulting services agreement.