Superfund, Brownfields & Site Remediation

Examples of our experience include:

• Serving as national environmental counsel for top Fortune 500 companies and handling remediation portfolios involving dozens of sites of varying degrees of remediation maturity, complexity, liability exposure, and risk profiles.
• Negotiating federal and state administrative orders on consent, unilateral orders, consent decrees, and many other agreements with environmental regulators for the cleanup and/or resolution of environmental sites.
• Serving as common counsel for PRPs at Superfund and other contaminated sites.
• Negotiating limited investigation and remediation related to emerging contaminants, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), 1,4-Dioxane, and 6-PPD.
• Securing cooperation and site access agreements with private and public entities for our clients to implement site cleanups while protecting against additional liabilities and risks through the negotiation of insurance, indemnities, claims releases, and covenants not to sue.
• Extensive experience investigating and responding to CERCLA 104(e) and state-level information request responses to government agencies.
• Successfully avoiding an EPA attempt to reopen a site in a coordinating counsel role by providing a practical response to address an identified new release.
• Brokering a settlement among the General Motors Environmental Trust, EPA and 15 parties to address the remediation of a federal site in New York.
• Leading negotiations for a global settlement among a PRP group and a variety of owners and operators that included cash-out options for the remediation of a complex landfill in Washington state.
• Serving as coordinating counsel for a PRP group to address the remediation of a complex water body that includes oversight of the pursuit of non-participating parties.
• Working with seasoned experts to identify and implement sustainable remedies to expedite clean-up, including solar installations and other green remedies and infrastructure.
• Negotiating the first combined Natural Resource Damages (NRD) and CERCLA Remedial Action Consent Decree in EPA Region V.
• Resolving state and federal trustee NRD claims that included in-kind work in lieu of payments, capturing some costs related to remedial action as a benefit.
• Closing out and delisting multiple Superfund sites throughout the country.
• Effectively advocating for streamlined and reasonable allocations in mediation proceedings for many sites.
• Advising clients on community involvement including environmental justice strategies in connection with Superfund sites.
• Formulating community advisory group agreements and presentations for meetings to maximize community input and minimize PRP risk.
• Participating in public meetings associated with notice and comment periods for permitting and site remediation.
• Working closely with environmental liability transfer entities to assess and often take over site responsibilities to eliminate or greatly reduce our clients’ long-term obligations at contaminated sites.