Environmental Law

Strategic Environmental Counsel Across New Jersey and Pennsylvania

Flaster Greenberg’s Environmental Law team advises clients throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Our attorneys provide practical, business-driven solutions concerning a multitude of environmental matters, including litigation, transactions, site remediation, permitting, and compliance.

From NJDEP permitting and ISRA compliance to high-stakes Superfund (CERCLA) litigation and emerging PFAS liability, we help clients reduce risk, maintain compliance, and keep projects moving forward.

Why Clients Choose Flaster Greenberg

• Deep experience with NJDEP, PADEP, EPA, and regional regulatory agencies
• Recognized strength in Superfund, NRD, and site remediation, including emerging contaminants such as PFAS
• Proven results in complex environmental and hazardous waste litigation and cost recovery, including recovery of defense costs and remediation costs from insurance companies
• Integrated capabilities in environmental, land use, real estate, and energy law

“Flaster Greenberg is capable of handling more complicated matters and knows its way around a courtroom.”
~ Chambers USA

Core Environmental Law Services

Environmental Transactions & Due Diligence

We structure deals to help clients identify and mitigate environmental risk in transactions throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania, including:

• Phase I & II environmental site assessments
• Environmental liability allocation and risk management
• ISRA compliance (New Jersey Industrial Site Recovery Act)
• Permit transfers and regulatory approvals
• Environmental insurance counseling and recovery
• Coordination with consultants and regulators

Environmental Litigation & Enforcement

We represent clients in state and federal courts throughout NJ and PA, including administrative proceedings, in the following areas:

• CERCLA (Superfund), RCRA, and NJ Spill Act claims
• Natural Resource Damages (NRD)
• Cost recovery and allocation disputes
• Toxic tort and class action defense
• Agency enforcement and penalty actions
• Permit and regulatory challenges

Permitting & Regulatory Compliance

We guide clients through complex NJDEP, PADEP, NYDEC, EPA, and local permitting processes, including:

• Environmental permitting (NJDEP, PADEP, NYDEC, EPA, and regional and municipal agencies)
• Compliance audits and counseling
• Violation defense and resolution strategies
• Permit modifications and negotiations

Land Use & Redevelopment

We provide seamless integration of environmental and land use law throughout New Jersey and the Philadelphia metro area, and aid clients in obtaining the necessary approvals for their development projects, including:

• Planning and zoning board of adjustment representation
• Redevelopment and brownfield development strategy
• Access to grants, incentives, and public funding programs
• Approvals from NJDEP, NJDOT, PADEP, NYDEC, EPA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Representative Matters

• On behalf of an industrial client remediating groundwater contamination, we successfully convinced the NJDEP to withdraw proposed regulations that would have set a state-specific cleanup standard for a contaminant that was significantly more stringent than the current national interim standard set only recently by the USEPA. 
• Prevailed after a seven-day trial on behalf of a petroleum distributor in a New Jersey Spill Act case, successfully defending against environmental contamination claims spanning more than 35 years.
• Successfully guided our client through the Industrial Site Recovery Act (ISRA) process and convinced NJDEP to approve the full release of the client’s mandated funding source required under ISRA in the face of ongoing monitoring and reporting requirements.
• Successfully recovered millions of dollars in insurance benefits for a gasoline distributor with ten contaminated sites.
• Obtained funds in a suit filed under the New Jersey Spill Act and against insurance carriers, which allowed for a multimillion-dollar cleanup of a long-contaminated PCB site in Franklin Township, NJ.
• Successfully litigated a claim for multimillion-dollar cleanup costs and damages on behalf of a New Jersey developer against a Fortune 500 company that polluted a site before the client purchased it.
• Obtained multimillion-dollar cost recoveries for original defendants in third party practice against hundreds of defendants in the Helen Kramer Landfill (New Jersey) and Berks/Douglassville (Pennsylvania) Superfund litigations.
• Recovered millions of dollars in insurance proceeds which assisted in the cleanup of a site which had been contaminated with arsenic by a chemical manufacturer.
• Successfully guided clients through dozens of gasoline station, dry cleaning, and other industrial, commercial, and residential contaminated sites by obtaining regulatory approvals, cost recovery against responsible parties, and obtaining insurance proceeds through applicable insurance policies.
• Secured withdrawal of NJDEP-proposed remediation standards lacking scientific support.
• Guided our client through the ISRA process and achieved full ISRA funding release approval in the face of ongoing monitoring and reporting requirements.
• Recovered tens of millions in insurance proceeds for contaminated site cleanups.
• Obtained multimillion-dollar cost recoveries in Spill Act and Superfund matters.
• Successfully litigated claims against prior polluters, including Fortune 500 companies.
• Managed remediation and approvals for dozens of contaminated sites in NJ and PA. 
• And many more...