Environmental Law

Services Offered
Cohen & Grigsby’s Environmental Law Practice counsels and represents commercial, industrial, financial, and governmental clients in connection with:

Ongoing regulatory compliance
Legislative activities and rulemaking proceedings
Environmental due diligence and related transactional concerns
Environmental litigation such as private cost recovery actions, governmental enforcement actions, citizen suits, and toxic torts
“Brownfields”/land recycling initiatives
Environmental issues arising in the context of international trade
Environmental insurance coverage litigation

Superfund and State “Minifund” Issues
Since 1980, the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA”) has provided a mechanism to initiate and pay for the cleanup of hazardous substance spills and abandoned waste disposal sites. This system establishes strict liability of owners and operators, among others, of abandoned waste disposal sites. Cohen & Grigsby has handled matters involving CERCLA (Superfund), other hazardous substances legislation and environmental incidents such as toxic releases. Our practice includes business counseling aimed at avoiding environmental liabilities, including:

Implementing environmental and insurance audits
Defending administrative orders for the investigation, study, stabilization and cleanup of multi-party waste sites
Advising clients subject to government-ordered cleanups, including issues of cost allocation, settlement terms and selection of remedy
Counseling clients regarding the impact of bankruptcy on liability for contamination and the right to recover expenses
Advising clients regarding health-based risk assessments
Prosecuting and defending suits involving prior owners or operators of facilities where hazardous waste has been found.

Compliance and Permitting
Cohen & Grigsby provides businesses with ongoing compliance counseling regarding the entire range of environmental regulations at the federal, state and local levels. We assist clients regarding compliance with and liability under CERCLA, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and comparable state laws. We also counsel clients cleaning up or purchasing property who seek liability protection under Pennsylvania’s Act 2 and other Brownfields legislation. We counsel clients in connection with the day-to-day management of industrial facilities and commercial properties. For example, our lawyers provide counseling with respect to:

Reporting requirements
Internal compliance programs
Preparation for government inspections
Local, state and federal statutes governing the generation, transportation, treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous waste
Requirements and recommendations concerning underground storage tanks
Issuance, renewal and modification of permits and variances concerning solid waste, air emissions and water discharges
State and federal requirements for emergency planning and community right-to-know laws
Manufacture or use of chemicals and “toxic” materials, including premanufacture and importation notification
Administrative actions and orders under federal and state law concerning hazardous waste, ambient air emissions and surface water discharges.

Insurance Coverage/Toxic Tort
Insurance coverage disputes over environmental cleanup costs have become a major issue for many companies. Cohen & Grigsby has recovered substantial sums for environmental claims for clients from their historic insurance carriers. The firm also has defended numerous toxic tort claims where liability for exposure to toxic substances was alleged. In particular, the firm has provided counsel in the following areas:

Prosecution of coverage for onsite and offsite contamination under general liability insurance policies and, in appropriate cases, first party insurance policies
Defense of intentional tort and worker compensation suits alleging employee exposure to toxic substances
Recovery of costs related to asbestos in products and buildings
Cleanup and disposal of products and materials containing PHBs Liability concerning dioxin contamination of soils.

Corporate and Financial Transactions
Over the past several years, environmental concerns have become a major consideration in corporate and financial transactions. Cohen & Grigsby counsels on environmental issues in connection with mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, leveraged buy-outs and other restructuring, privatizations and financings of projects, leases and real estate. We have substantial experience with investment concerns in these transactions and experience in writing environmental provisions to safeguard our clients from environmental liabilities. In advising clients on corporate transactions, we work with environmental consultants in the performance of environmental audits and assessments and analyze the findings of these studies. We also advise on lender liability, fiduciary liability and officer and director liability. Cohen & Grigsby has counseled institutional lenders, venture capital investors, national and local developers, and other clients on a full range of these issues including:

Statutory liabilities associated with acquired property
Potential liability of secured lenders and investors in real property transactions
Issues affecting real estate acquisitions, dispositions, sale-leasebacks, foreclosure and liquidation proceedings
Liability, indemnification, and risk transference in sales contracts, lease and other transactions instruments
Compliance with deed notification and restriction requirements under state and federal laws
Reporting obligations of buyers and sellers of contaminated property.