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Environmental Practice Our environmental practice group represents real estate developers, owners, and property managers in a wide variety of environmental remediation, compliance, and dispute resolution matters.
Our environmental attorneys represent clients in the acquisition of potentially-contaminated properties, compliance with cleanup regulations after a release of oil or hazardous materials, remediation and redevelopment of brownfields sites, and in making claims against third parties who have contaminated their properties or for coverage from insurers. Our attorneys regularly write articles on environmental topics, contribute to Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) publications, and address environmental issues as participants in MCLE seminars and other expert panels. Our extensive experience allows us to represent out clients in a timely, efficient, and cost-effective manner, while focusing on the client’s ultimate goal, whether that be remediation, redevelopment, or cost recovery.
Our environmental attorneys also regularly advise clients with respect to the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act, Chapter 91 (tidelands), storm water issues, and the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA). We also have experience in permitting subsurface sewage disposal (Title 5) systems and wastewater treatment facilities.
Some of the services we provide include:
- Review of environmental reports in connection with contemplated property acquisitions or disposals;
- Work with environmental consultants to coordinate environmental remediation and redevelopment projects;
- Registration and licensing of underground storage tanks;
- Garage and gasoline permits for structured parking facilities;
- Environmental remediation litigation under the Massachusetts Oil and Hazardous Material Release Prevention Act (Chapter 21E) and common law theories;
- Insurance coverage counsel for owners of contaminated properties;
- Risk management and national insurance coverage counsel for independent petroleum distribution company with gasoline stations in Midwest and southwest; and
- Advice on lead paint law liability in connection with residential transactions and building renovations.
- Owner of gasoline service station at which a release of gasoline had occurred in connection with remediation of property and responding to claims by downgradient property owner;
- Developer in connection with remediation of historic fuel oil release on property being converted to biotech laboratory facility;
- Owner of property downgradient property contaminated by gasoline release from adjacent property;
- Purchaser of former tannery site to be redeveloped as public park;
- Condominium developer in connection with remediation of former scrap metal facility;
- Purchaser of house with undisclosed lead paint contamination;
- Private school in connection with expansion of Title 5 subsurface sewage disposal system;
- Property manager in connection with release of fuel oil from emergency generator;
- Redeveloper of office/research campus within flood plain, for whom we obtained an order of conditions with a flood storage capacity banking mechanism designed to operate over the fifteen-year redevelopment period as existing buildings are demolished to make way for new construction;
- Homeowners seeking to expand houses barrier beach areas of Plum Island; and
- Redeveloper of historic mill building and gas plant complex with multiple environmental issues into apartment buildings.