Brownfields

Our attorneys thoroughly investigate environmentally impaired properties and pollution challenges to assess the potential for turning risk and potential liability into reuse, redevelopment and net-gain investment opportunities for our clients. We foster relationships with developers, environmental consultants, engineers, architects, lenders, insurance brokers and underwriters, real estate brokers, and local, state and federal government officials and regulators. These relationships build unity, trust and alliances resulting in solutions and strategies aimed at the following:

• Identifying, analyzing, assessing, managing and minimizing to the fullest extent possible risks posed by pollution challenges
• Developing effective, economical, and protective plans for site investigation and clean-up, reuse and redevelopment, and if necessary, sensible institutional and engineering controls and land-use restrictions
• Redeveloping unproductive, blighted, and stigmatized lands into new neighborhoods, destination attractions, and profitable investments
• Re-establishing and enhancing job markets, tax revenue, public amenities and aesthetic values
• Obtaining assurances from regulators using data and technical analyses from consultants and developing persuasive legal positions applying applicable federal and state statutes, case law, rulings and policies
• Investigating and negotiating environmental insurance tailored to the specific risk and pollution challenge
• Exploring grants and low-interest loans for site investigation cleanup, environmental insurance premiums, and redevelopment such as federal and state Brownfield grants and low-interest loans

Representative examples of our experience in this area include:

• Negotiated Brownfield Voluntary Agreement with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation providing covenant not to sue and liability protection to prospective purchaser of operating Memphis chemical plant
• Wrote and negotiated several site management plans and environmental covenants to obtain RCRA corrective action completion with controls status for parcels within former Geneva Steel Plant, Vineyard, Utah
• Wrote and negotiated site management plan and environmental covenant to obtain RCRA corrective action completion with controls for Ogden, Utah, granary impacted by trichloroethylene plume
• Wrote and negotiated site management plans for lender that foreclosed on former Great Basin Trucking facility, West Valley City, Utah, and obtained voluntary cleanup program certificates of completion for two impacted parcels
• Negotiated environmental covenant and helped owner of a Chicago drycleaning plant obtain no further action from Illinois Environmental Protection Agency on cleanup of perchloroethylene release and approval for residential redevelopment
• Negotiated administrative settlement agreement with Nevada Division of Environmental Protection for purchaser to obtain covenant not to sue and cleanup cost cap on leaking underground storage tank site
• Negotiated with EPA and Utah Department of Environmental Quality and obtained court approval for modifying consent decree providing liability protection for prospective purchaser and redevelopment of the Sharon Steel Superfund site, U.S. v. Sharon Steel Corp., Civil No. 86-C-924J, D. Utah
• Assisted Nevada ski resort in obtaining no further action from the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection in cleaning up leaking underground storage tank site
• Lead environmental counsel for purchaser of 1750-acre Geneva Steel site and cleanup and redevelopment under RCRA corrective action permit
• Contributing writer of Envision Utah Brownfield Toolbox: http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/pdf/eu_brownfield_toolbox.pdf