Over the past 30 years, environmental regulation has become increasingly complex, while the potential liability for failure to understand and heed its many requirements has grown exponentially.

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney's Environmental Law Group provides the sophisticated and knowledgeable legal support required by the regulated community. Our multi-disciplinary Environmental Group includes former state regulatory attorneys, intellectual property attorneys and litigators with more than 30 years of experience defending clients in a wide variety of environmental, occupational safety and health, toxic tort litigation and natural resources issues.

Our attorneys help clients avoid environmental pitfalls and turn environmental programs into business opportunities. We work closely with clients to develop strategies that are legally sound, cost-sensitive and consistent with their business goals.

From permitting the "green field" development of electrical power generating plants to litigating the responsibility for abandoned waste sites, our lawyers identify issues and develop creative, practical solutions without unnecessary costs or confrontation. We frequently negotiate important settlements, attaining a client's goals and minimizing exposure, while avoiding litigation. If confrontation cannot be avoided, however, our lawyers are prepared to litigate in any forum.

Buchanan provides environmental law counseling and litigation services in the following primary areas:

• General environmental regulatory counseling
• Environmental and land use litigation
• Real estate and corporate transactions

General Environmental Regulatory Counseling

Collectively, our environmental attorneys have handled hundreds of cases before the Environmental Hearing Board and other state and federal regulatory agencies. Our regulatory counseling focuses on four broad environmental areas: mining, solid waste, air and water.

Mining — With a deep client base in the coal and minerals industry, our environmental attorneys frequently provide advice and counsel regarding permitting and enforcement of federal and state statutes, including Pennsylvania's Coal and Non-Coal Surface Mining Acts, as well as the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act. We also assist clients in addressing issues such as acid mine and post-mining drainage, including the legal responsibility for and treatment of mine discharges. In addition, our attorneys have experience with bonding, reclamation and other closure issues associated with mining activities. We have:

• Represented a large coal company in legal disputes over coal rights vs. oil and gas interests in a case of first impression before the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board.
• Represented a surety company regarding a coal mining reclamation bond dispute and water quality violations in litigation in West Virginia Circuit Court, the West Virginia Surface Mine Board and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
• Counseled Greenbrier Resources with regard to titles matters and reviewing ancillary documents, such as wetlands mitigation agreements relating to mining permit applications
• Represented a major financial institution in coal financing projects, including conducting due diligence regarding real estate, environmental and reclamation issues, and advising on related title issues.
• Represented quarry companies in third-party actions involving issuance of their non-coal permits.
• Defended clients against "whistle blower" discrimination claims under OSHA and FMSHA.

Solid Waste —We provide advice and counsel to public and private companies regarding regulatory compliance and permitting of hazardous, residual, and municipal waste treatment, storage and disposal facilities, including related administrative or judicial proceedings. Our environmental litigators also represent clients in defense of government enforcement proceedings and in defense of permit actions by regulatory agencies from third-party challenges. We have:

• Defended a West Virginia landfill in a citizen suit brought against several landfills and the West Virginia DEP regarding the enforcement of amended solid waste statutes.
• Represented a manufacturer regarding on-site disposal of radioactive slag.
• Advised a client on closure issues related to an unpermitted hazardous waste disposal area exhibiting heavy metal contamination and preparing a related proposal to the Ohio EPA for risk-based cleanup levels.
• Defended a third-party appeal of a Pennsylvania landfill permit regarding the siting of one of the first residual-waste landfills.
• Advised an energy company on regulatory changes to Pennsylvania's complex residual waste regulations.
• Defended companies in criminal enforcement actions brought by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General under the hazardous waste provisions of the Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act.
• Argued a matter before the Commonwealth Court that resulted in an Environmental Hearing Board decision involving the $4 per ton fee for material used at landfills as alternative daily cover being overturned; the result had a significant impact on the entire waste industry in Pennsylvania.
• Represented the lessee regarding regulatory, transactional and due diligence issues in a proposed lease of a landfill in Pennsylvania.
• Worked as part of the common counsel team for the remedial selection phase of a landfill remediation project involving heavy metal contamination and wetlands restoration issues.

Air — We provide advice and assistance in air quality plan approval and permitting issues, including RACT determinations, Title V permits and New Source Review. We also assist clients with the preparation of comments and challenges to SIP revisions, the defense of enforcement actions and the defense of permit actions by regulatory agencies and challenges by third parties. We have:

• Represented a maintenance contractor in negotiations with a plant owner, the Department of Justice and the EPA regarding numerous allegations of regulatory violations relating to the release of refrigerants into the atmosphere. We established that our client was not responsible for the violations.
• Represented a telecommunications company regarding Clean Air and Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know (EPCRA) Act violations in 17 states.
• Defended a client against the first civil penalty action brought by the Department of Justice for arsenic National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) violations.

Water — Our attorneys provide advice and assistance concerning all types of water permits, including NPDES and wastewater treatment permits, and pretreatment permits issued by Publicly Owned Treatment Works. They also defend clients against citizens' suits, as well as enforcement proceedings by both federal and state regulatory agencies relating to surface and groundwater discharges and stormwater wetlands and encroachment matters. We have:

• Represented an oil distribution company in a multi-party Clean Water Act action involving alleged petroleum contamination of navigable waters.
• Represented the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority and Three Rivers Wet Weather, Inc. in negotiations with state and local regulators regarding compliance with Clean Water Act mandates concerning sanitary sewer and combined sewer overflows and the development of a sewer assessment program, including coordinating and drafting responses from more than 80 municipalities and coordinating the work and comments of more than 60 engineers.
• Handled and resolved erosion and sediment, stream encroachment and wetland matters before the Pennsylvania DEP and the United States EPA.
• Represented water companies in environmental permitting and property acquisition matters.
• Served as counsel for corporations involved in the remediation of soil and ground water contamination, including the selection of remedies in conjunction with other responsible parties and the New Jersey DEP.
• Defended a multi-national company in response to criminal enforcement proceedings by the Pennsylvania attorney general under the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law.
• Resolved a civil penalty action brought by the Pennsylvania DEP against a wire rope manufacturer for releases of contaminated wastewater through an ACO requiring site characterization under the Pennsylvania Act 2 program.

Environmental and Land Use Litigation

We routinely represent clients in civil and criminal environmental and land use litigation matters in both federal and state courts, as well as contested administrative law matters. This experience includes the representation of clients in CERCLA (Superfund) and state and federal enforcement matters, natural resources damages claims, as well as in OSHA and toxic tort defense matters. Our attorneys have litigated successfully land use issues involving local regulation of environmentally sensitive facilities, including, but not limited to, oil terminals, shopping centers and sewage sludge disposal facilities. In Delaware, our attorneys have been involved in several matters concerning Delaware's unique Coastal Zone Act, as well as other administrative and litigation matters involving Delaware's environmental statutes and regulations. We have:

• Represented clients in criminal investigations and prosecutions involving New Jersey's solid waste, air pollution laws and the NJ Pollution Discharge and Elimination System program.
• On behalf of Quality Aggregates, defended a permit for a limestone quarry that citizens groups sought to overturn before the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board.
• Served as national counsel for an automobile manufacturer with respect to environmental issues associated with a former rental car subsidiary with 80 rental car facilities.
• Represented the private owners of an "inholding" in the Monongahela National Forest in a dispute with the United States Forest Service regarding right-of-way, access to the property and clients' charges of harassment against the Forest Service in the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.
• In a matter involving a Superfund site, successfully obtained liability protection under Pennsylvania's Act 2 program for a party acquiring property that was adjacent to a Superfund site that had contaminated groundwater from the Superfund site beneath the property and contaminated surface water from the site adjacent to the property.
• Represented one of the eight original defendant and third-party plaintiffs in an action brought under state and federal superfund laws for recovery of past and future response costs and a related CERCLA Section 106 order to undertake site remediation in Minnesota.

Real Estate and Corporate Transactions

In conjunction with attorneys in our Corporate and Real Estate Practice Groups, our environmental attorneys provide support for transactions involving industrial businesses and their real estate interests, as well as transactions involving the development of environmentally sensitive facilities. Our attorneys counsel and help clients navigate the increasingly complex environmental regulations associated with real estate transactions, including conducting due diligence and providing advice related to zoning and land use restrictions applicable to the siting of new facilities or the expansion of existing facilities. We also represent clients in eminent domain and administrative proceedings related to regulatory takings, and in the negotiation of No Further Action Letters and Prospective Purchaser Agreements (PPAs) with the EPA and state Brownfield agreements.

In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the Environmental Law Practice Group has assisted clients in numerous matters in obtaining liability protection under Pennsylvania's Land Recycling and Environmental Cleanup and Liability Protection Act (Act 2) program and the New Jersey Industrial Site Recovery Act. Our environmental attorneys also represent developers and land owners in real estate transactions involving complex Brownfield sites that required extensive remediation and possible environmental insurance for third party claims. This representation included negotiating agreements with the Pennsylvania and New Jersey DEPs for liability relief along with EPA comfort letters and prospective purchaser agreements. We have:

• Negotiated agreements between municipalities and private developers involving sewage facilities and availability of public water.
• Negotiated and finalized many buyer/seller agreements with the Pennsylvania DEP allowing contaminated site real estate transactions to proceed to closing.
• Represented the seller of a Brownfields property on Neville Island in Allegheny County through negotiations with the DEP and the buyer, including working extensively with the client's engineers regarding the investigation of the site and the proposal of a remedial alternative.
• Counseled a Real Estate Investment Trust with regard to environmental issues and due diligence concerning two separate purchases of portfolios of retail properties in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and Indiana.
• Facilitated the expedited issuance of NPDES permits for construction activities.
• Counseled a university regarding an architectural contract for the development of a "green" academic building planned for Silver LEED certification.