Flaster/Greenberg's Environmental Law Practice Group attorneys represent clients in all aspects of environmental and land use matters. We help identify practical alternatives to achieve business objectives while complying with legal regulations. Our environmental attorneys represent a diverse range of clients that includes manufacturers, chemical, oil and energy companies, medium and small businesses, financial institutions, and residential, commercial and industrial developers.
Transactions
- Negotiate the parties' liability.
- Review Phase 1s and Phase 2s (a/k/a Preliminary Assessments and Site Investigations).
- Evaluate the risk of a transaction.
- Propose safeguards against environmental liability.
- Assure compliance with applicable standards, including EPA's "All Appropriate Inquiry" requirements and state analogues.
- Transfer permits and resolve any outstanding issues.
- Work with environmental consultants and with the federal and state regulatory agencies to enable property transfer.
- Review violation notices and permits to ensure compliance of the business on the property.
- Prepare filings for regulated companies, including MSDS under OSHA.
- Aid in the development of tailored insurance policies.
- Work with the agencies on site remediation to get the maximum benefit without unnecessary requirements.
Litigation - Litigation over environmental, safety, and health issues often arises in the context of governmental cost recovery claims, agency enforcement and penalty actions, citizens' suits to enforce federal and state statutes, environmental remediation and liability disputes, toxic tort cases and class actions, insurance coverage claims, and challenges to environmental permits and proposed regulations. We have significant experience representing clients in environmental lawsuits in both federal and state courts, including appellate courts, and in proceedings before administrative agency tribunals. Our experience includes Superfund (CERCLA), RCRA and New Jersey Spill Act actions, Natural Resource Damage (NRD) claims, ISRA and underground storage tank issues, as well as water, hazardous waste, solid waste and air permitting issues.
Land Use and Redevelopment - Our Environmental Law Practice Group aids clients in zoning, permit and building law with respect to land use and development. We provide our clients with effective advocacy before planning/zoning boards and other decision-making bodies involved in the development process. We deal with both the basic and the specialized aspects of land use. This includes facilitating land use approvals, utilizing public programs, using grants and subsidies for facilitating development, and providing aid in disputes and litigation arising out of the approval process. We also assist in obtaining necessary permits and related approvals and determinations from state and federal governmental agencies, such as the NJDEP, the EPA, the NJDOT and the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Permitting and Compliance - Our Environmental Law Practice Group also aids clients in applying for and obtaining environmental permits required to carry on their businesses, as well as complying with applicable permit conditions. In instances where permit conditions are not reasonable and/or lead to compliance problems, we also assist clients in resolving such claims and in applying for permit modifications to enable clients to meet permit conditions on a going forward basis.
Representative Matters
Our environmental attorneys are highly distinguished in the legal field and we are most proud of the results achieved for our clients. Representative examples include:
- Successfully litigating a claim for cleanup costs and damages on behalf of a New Jersey developer against a Fortune 500 Company that polluted the site before the client purchased it.
- Negotiating settlement with the EPA on behalf of a client, reducing a proposed major penalty to a nominal sum.
- Obtaining significant cost recovery for original defendants in third party practice against hundreds of defendants in the Helen Kramer Landfill (New Jersey) and Berks/Douglasville (Pennsylvania) Superfund litigations.
- Recovering of significant costs in an environmental insurance coverage matter handled for a chemical manufacturer.