Environmental

Every attorney in our Environmental Group brings deep experience at an affordable cost to address the full spectrum of environmental issues faced by business clients, whether responding to regulatory actions by state and federal agencies, the impact of the Transfer Act and other regulatory drivers on real estate transactions and financings, or taking steps to properly apportion responsibility and liability for contamination on properties.

Our attorneys stay connected with the evolving regulatory climate, often leading educational programs, writing and participating in agency advisory groups with regulators and consultants.  We then share developments with our clients, so that they can adjust their business plans and respond appropriately to new standards and practices to economically and responsibly manage their environmental issues.

 Practice Focus

• Providing environmental due diligence and counseling in business and real estate transactions, particularly involving contaminated property
• Orchestrating regulatory compliance in petroleum, metal recycling, manufacturing, transportation and other industries
• Representing clients before regulatory agencies and state and federal courts
• Pursuing recovery of clean-up costs from private parties, governmental sources and insurers
• Interfacing with governmental agencies and consultants to facilitate remediation of contaminated properties

 Representative Matters

• Advised an independent petroleum company on the acquisition of over 100 retail gasoline and convenience stores, including negotiating a fixed price environmental remediation agreement and insurance coverage provisions and negotiating settlement agreements and purchase and sale agreements with franchise dealers
• Simultaneously resolved a suit with the purchaser of a client’s business, a coverage dispute with the client’s environmental insurer, and cleanup orders issued by the State of Connecticut by creating a new corporation to receive insurance proceeds dedicated to remediation of contamination at the business
• Represented the seller of a metal processing business in disputes with the purchaser and state regulators, obtaining a favorable arbitration award from the purchaser on all claims  including recovery of its attorneys’ fees and securing a favorable judgment rejecting each claim by the state for statutory violations and penalties
• Developed the strategy for a defendant in a multimillion dollar chemical exposure case to retain expert witnesses released by settling co-defendants and challenge opposing experts, resulting in a settlement at five percent of the pre-trial demand

• Negotiated a new structure for exclusions in an environmental insurance policy specific to the needs of both the seller and buyer of contaminated property, including protection for potential third-party liability, while addressing insurer concerns about existing Transfer Act obligations
• Met with regulators in advance of a transaction to discuss approval of an alternative, cost effective strategy to address widespread, past pesticide use on re-developed farm land, so a buyer could assess the financial risk before committing to purchase
• Assisted a private equity finance company in performing environmental due diligence concerning possible acquisition of a natural gas energy plant
• Advised a national air carrier and one of the largest regional freight rail carriers on environmental remediation, litigation and compliance issues, including questions regarding spill notices and stormwater compliance
• Represented major PRP at Superfund site and negotiated settlement with EPA involving use of mixed funding, EPA waiver of joint and several liability and reuse of site for processing bulky waste