Environmental Litigation

Overview

Compliance with environmental laws represents a significant set of commitments and potential liabilities—not only for manufacturers, but for any enterprise that occupies land or uses natural resources.

Rely on NP to represent you in complex, multi-party civil and criminal litigation matters arising under local, state, and federal statutes. Our team has assisted clients on matters involving air, water, solid and hazardous waste, wetlands, drinking water, and more.

We are Superfund common counsel and represent clients at numerous state and federal Superfund sites. In CERCLA/site remediation, we have been the lead project firm for over 100 client-owned, multi-party state or federal hazardous waste, brownfields, voluntary cleanup, or Superfund sites.

From verdict to judgment, settlement, or claim withdrawal—we have successfully litigated a vast range of environmental matters.

Representative experience

• Defended CERCLA claims brought by the State of California against a large battery manufacturer
• Obtained a favorable resolution of a federal court CERCLA action involving activities at the former Kaiser Steel plant in Fontana, California
• Facility operator in an investigation related to PFAS resulting from well water measurements taken near the client’s facility
• Obtained a complete defense verdict after a two-week trial of an action brought by residents in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant in Massachusetts
• National laboratory in a contamination class action, where hundreds of plaintiffs were seeking property and personal injury damages related to alleged migration of various chemicals and other toxic material from the lab. Successful in defeating class certification and narrowing the claims to property damage only
• Trial counsel for a national company involved in environmental litigation in federal court. Successfully defended the client at the U.S. Court of Appeals in a case involving Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Toxic Substances Control Act, and related state law tort claims alleging injury from exposure to PCBs in connection with the demolition of a facility
• Part of a joint defense group that defeated a putative class action of school children in East Chicago, Indiana, who attempted to sue certain steel manufacturers and related businesses for medical monitoring for alleged long-term health risks resulting from exposure to pollution
• Handling numerous cases in litigation arising from issues in connection with alternative energy, cell tower siting, and land use
• Concluded multi-year litigation that resulted in an appellate ruling allowing the client to locate a wind farm in central New York
• Obtained dismissal for a recycling company accused of co-mingling recycled materials and defrauding plaintiff, a plastic re-claiming entity. The Circuit Court of Lake County, IL, agreed that the claims could not proceed because they were insufficiently vague and unsupported by fact

Recognition

• Nixon Peabody has been named a Tier 1 National firm for Commercial Litigation and Environmental Law in the 2024 edition of Best Law Firms®.