Latham's Environment, Land & Resources Department represents:
- Cost-recovery actions
- Environmental clean-ups involving contamination (including leaking underground storage tanks, manufacturing facilities, landfills, disposal facilities, and hazardous and nuclear waste storage)
- Past and present owners or operators
- Transporters and lenders in state and federal Superfund proceedings
- Waste-generators
The firm’s lawyers have also assisted clients with the remediation of contaminated-properties sites, and are experienced in working with both environmental consultants and regulatory agencies in resolving complex technical issues that arise in the remediation process.
Latham regularly advises lenders, developers, sellers and purchasers of property in connection with federal and state regulations affecting abandoned or under-utilized property that has suffered environmental contamination (brownfields). Re-development of brownfield properties has historically presented legal challenges to property owners, developers, tenants and governmental officials: Latham's lawyers have extensive experience in helping clients take advantage of these initiatives, by helping them to understand the nature of the contamination and its legal consequences.
Latham's lawyers are actively involved in counseling, auditing, enforcement and rule-making with regard to hazardous waste management issues. These matters include advising clients on:
- Complex waste characterization issues
- Corrective action
- Facility citing, and permitting requirements under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
- Reporting obligations under the federal and state "Right-to-Know" laws, including the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and California's Proposition 65
Latham's Environment, Land & Resources Department has also handled the defense of civil and criminal penalty actions for alleged violations of RCRA-permitting and waste-handling requirements; they have also represented clients in rule-making proceedings and litigation of final agency actions.