Goodwin Procter has a comprehensive environmental practice, including environmental compliance counseling, litigation, dispute resolution, permitting, Brownfields redevelopment and environmental insurance work. We have also gained a reputation for expertise in facilitating environmentally challenged transactions. Our approach to environmental law is practical and results-oriented. We find innovative ways to help clients achieve their goals while protecting the environment and complying with applicable regulatory requirements. Our depth and breadth of expertise allows us to anticipate and effectively resolve a wide range of environmental issues vital to the success of any transaction or project.
Our clients include domestic and multinational chemical, mining, defense industry, manufacturing, high-tech and biotech companies and a number of national trade organizations requiring expert environmental law advice, as well as developers, lenders and investors whose transactions involve environmental issues. We also handle environmental review and permitting needs for major capital projects sponsored by private industry, educational institutions and governmental entities. In many contexts, our creative analysis, strategic advice and pro-active representation have helped our clients to achieve their business objectives.
Goodwin Procter’s Environmental Practice is national in scope. Our environmental attorneys handle contaminated sediment issues in Ohio, site remediation issues in Puerto Rico, waste disposal issues in Connecticut, and radioactive materials handling issues in New Mexico. We recently procured Clean Water Act permits in New York and settled air enforcement matters in Indiana and Pennsylvania and worked on transactions involving environmental compliance and liability issues in Ohio, Texas, Colorado and California.
We have represented potentially responsible parties (PRPs) at more than 100 federal Superfund sites and state listed sites and in related CERCLA litigation and consent decree negotiations. We currently represent the largest potentially responsible parties at one of the most complex Superfund sites in New England and lead a joint defense group in addressing the investigation and cleanup of a large former munitions manufacturing facility in Massachusetts, where we negotiated a favorable cost-sharing consent decree with the United States Department of Defense.
We have an extensive environmental litigation practice in federal and state courts, including numerous CERCLA cost recovery and contribution cases, defense of enforcement actions under all of the major environmental statutes, defense of “toxic tort” suits alleging personal injury and property damages, defense of “citizen suits,” land use and environmental impact review litigation and insurance coverage cases.
Goodwin Procter is regularly engaged to participate in rulemakings and challenges to rules issued by EPA under RCRA, CERCLA, TSCA, the Clean Water Act and other federal and state environmental laws and to advise clients in implementing environmental due diligence, compliance audits and internal financial control systems to manage and prevent environmental and related liabilities, as well as addressing related SEC environmental disclosure issues.
Our environmental attorneys work in conjunction with the attorneys in our Energy Practice, who offer clients significant expertise with the transactional, regulatory and legislative aspects of power generation. We provide comprehensive legal services for national and international companies acquiring, expanding, developing or operating power-generation projects.
In the environmental insurance field, we represent the Massachusetts Brownfields Redevelopment Access to Capital Program, routinely counsel clients on the placement of environmental insurance, and have successfully structured and negotiated environmental insurance coverage allowing development of federal Superfund sites. less »