Environment litigation

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1 The attorneys excel at litigation and as a result the firm receives a constant stream of high-profile instructions in this area. Chambers USA, 2012 Environment litigation Hogan Lovells has extensive experience representing clients in pressing and complex environmental disputes, including: civil prosecutions brought by the government under federal and state environmental laws; internal investigations, grand jury investigations, criminal prosecutions, suspension and debarment proceedings, and agency investigations; citizen suits; private party disputes involving responsibility for contamination and other environmental liabilities; water resource management disputes; challenges under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and various land use statutes; and toxic tort litigation, including class actions. Our lawyers have extensive investigation and litigation experience inside and outside the government and include former Assistant U.S. Attorneys, former trial attorneys at the Department of Justice, and the former Chief Counsel for a major corporation. In addition, the U.S. Environment group includes a partner who recently served as the Director of EPA s Civil Enforcement Office and prior to that as the Director of EPA s Air Enforcement Division where, for the last ten years, he developed and then oversaw implementation of the federal government s approach to civil environmental regulatory enforcement, including its far-reaching and industrywide national enforcement initiatives.

2 e also have seasoned lawyers with first chair trial and appellate experience in complex, high-stakes environmental matters, including members of the American College of Trial Lawyers and environmental litigation committees within the American Bar Association. Hogan Lovells litigators have wideranging experience representing and defending organizations and individuals across the United States in environmental litigation before federal and state courts as well as before administrative tribunals. We have litigated virtually every type of significant environmental matter involving all major federal environmental laws and their state counterparts. We also specialize in representing companies in complex individual and mass toxic tort actions, where we have applied cutting-edge case management techniques and established important national precedents. We have assembled and worked closely with teams of internationally renowned professionals in the medical, earth, and atmospheric sciences. By combining their experience with our deep understanding of environmental law and experience in the courtroom, we are able to provide the highest level of service to our clients. By combining the courtroom capabilities of nationally recognized trial and appellate litigators with the subject-matter knowledge of a diverse team of environmental lawyers featuring industry and government leaders who have shaped the major environmental laws, regulatory policies, and common law of the last three decades Hogan Lovells offers the optimal interdisciplinary team of environmental litigators to represent clients on the largest and most complex environmental cases in the most strategic and cost-effective way possible. Representative experience Investigations Representing a publicly held company in connection with both a federal grand jury investigation and the negotiation of a precedent-setting plea agreement with the Department of Justice regarding allegations of failure to identify transported hazardous materials. Representing a major pharmaceutical company in its internal investigations into potential noncompliance with air regulations following receipt of a CAA information request from EPA Region IV. Directing a specialty metals manufacturer s internal investigations after the disappearance of its environmental manager who it was discovered had defrauded the company by illegally disposing of hazardous waste and pocketing the disposal fees; representation included cooperating with civil and criminal investigations by EPA Regions VI and VII, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality. Representing a national medical laboratory in its investigation of potential noncompliance with safety regulations and internal protocols by employees that allegedly resulted in a lab worker being exposed to brucella. Representing a leading engineering firm in a CWA investigation of false testing reports for lead in the Washington, D.C. water supply; the case was resolved with no criminal charges or civil settlement agreement. Representing a food additive company in a CWA investigation into the explosion of a water treatment plant from the build-up of combustible gases; the investigation ended with no criminal or civil action by the government. Areas of focus Investigations Civil and criminal enforcement Citizen suits Clean Air Act Clean Water Act and water resources Waste and cleanup litigation Toxic torts

3 Representing an executive in a CAA investigation of a pulp mill; the government declined to press criminal charges against our client. Representing a major manufacturer of trailers for long-haul trucks in a CWA investigation of discharges of pollutants into a storm sewer; negotiating a misdemeanor resolution for the company. Clean Air Act Securing a major victory in federal court in North Dakota for Minnkota Power Cooperative by settling an EPA NSR (New Source Review) enforcement action with a Consent Decree and then defeating EPA s effort to have the court vacate North Dakota s Best Available Control Technology analysis. Secured a significant victory before the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals when the court affirmed the dismissal of a citizen suit filed under the CAA by the Sierra Club against North American Power Group/Two Elk Generation Partners, LP. Representing a large Midwest utility in a case involving claims brought by the United States for NSR violations involving 23 coal-burning electricgenerating units. Defending three national trade associations of companies comprising the poultry industry against challenges brought by national environmental groups to a regulatory exemption from air emission reporting requirements, which Hogan Lovells had secured from EPA for the industry. Defending MidAmerican Energy Corporation in the Iowa Federal District Court against the Sierra Club s challenge to a Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit for a new coal plant based on the permitting strategy we developed during the permit revision process; the Sierra Club s citizen suit was voluntarily non-suited on the strength of our motion to dismiss. Representing PacifiCorp in its defense of a CAA suit filed by the Sierra Club in federal court in Wyoming concerning the Jim Bridger coal-fired power plant. Clean Water Act and water resources Representing the State of Florida in significant water wars litigation involving Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and two federal government agencies, as well as in two related federal district court actions involving water quality standards and NPDES permits that will shape restoration of the Florida Everglades. Defending a multinational food processor against the largest CWA enforcement action ever brought by the federal government; the government sought more than US$200 million in penalties for thousands of unpermitted wastewater discharges. Representing Los Alamos National Security, LLC, the operator of Los Alamos National Laboratory, in a citizen suit under the CWA and a separate permit appeal brought by numerous organizations and individuals concerning PCB discharges. Representing the City of Charlotte, NC, an intervenor in the original action brought by the State of South Carolina against the State of North Carolina in the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking an equitable apportionment of the Catawba River and a decree from the court placing restrictions on water withdrawals and uses within North Carolina. Defending a CWA citizen suit brought by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and won a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision severely curtailing citizens right to sue under the CWA. Representing seven West Slope environmental and conservation

4 groups in litigation challenging an agreement reached between the U.S. Department of the Interior and the State of Colorado that would have severely compromised the water rights attached to one of the nation s newest national parks, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Waste and cleanup Representing Rexair in long-standing litigation in Michigan state court concerning allegations that our client violated a consent judgment by allowing tricloroethylene to escape its groundwater remediation system; we secured a judgment of more than US$3.8 million against the State of Michigan as a sanction for the state s misconduct in pursuing Rexair and are now defending the judgment on appeal. Representing a subsidiary of BHP Billiton in a suit brought by the Sierra Club for alleged improper disposal of coal combustion residue from a coal-fired power plant. Representing Bostik in cost recovery and contribution actions against two industrial neighbors regarding groundwater contamination at an industrial park. Serving as lead counsel in several of the country s largest natural resource damage actions under CERCLA, including the Rocky Mountain Arsenal and the Montrose Chemical sites. Defending Fox Capital Management (Fox) in federal court litigation brought by Seven Springs Limited Partnership (SSLP), in which SSLP alleged that Fox was liable under CERCLA for the cleanup of perchloroethelyne (PCE) released from a dry cleaner in South Lake Tahoe, CA, during the 1970s. Representing a municipal government in litigation that resulted in one of the first Superfund settlements to include a brownfield redevelopment remedy, institutional controls, and a risk-based cleanup. Representing a chemical manufacturer against criminal allegations of improper hazardous waste classification and management at a mineral processing plant in Montana; the case was resolved with a pre-indictment plea agreement committing the company to pay a fine and conduct remediation of its site. Defending a claim for civil penalties alleged against OXY USA WTP by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission arising out of claimed contamination from an OXY gas production facility in Colorado. Representing a chemical manufacturer in settling a 107-count civil complaint and two-count criminal complaint resulting in novel multimedia audits at 23 facilities, and cleanup and compliance schedules. Representing Chemical Waste Management and Chem-Nuclear Systems, Inc. in federal district court and before the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a cost reimbursement action under CERCLA Section 106(b) against the United States. Defending a major Florida university in litigation brought by the United States alleging that the university was liable for the cleanup of a landfill used for the disposal of radioactive wastes. Defending multiple airlines in litigation concerning the US$700 million cleanup of the Miami airport. We resolved each client s liability at a fraction of the amount sought after a multiyear dispute resolution process involving scores of parties.

5 Land use Representing a subsidiary of BHP Billiton in permitting actions involving NEPA and a related civil action brought under ESA in connection with the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement s renewal of BHP Navajo Coal Company s Navajo Mine operating permit. Representing a natural resource company in connection with its intervention in and defense of claims by Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to halt seismic activities near the Arches and Canyonlands National Parks in Utah, including defeating motions for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. Representing NV Energy (aka Nevada Power Company) as intervenor in defense of Sierra Club s claims that BLM violated NEPA and FLPMA in connection with operations of a coalfired power plant near Las Vegas, NV. Representing Arizona Snowbowl before the U.S. Supreme Court having successfully defended an appeal of a precedent-setting NEPA and Religious Freedom Restoration Act case before an 11-judge panel of the 9th Circuit in 2007; this case made law affecting development, including energy projects, on public lands. Toxic tort Representing Antero in the defense of individual and putative class actions filed in Denver District Court for damages for alleged health impacts and property damage caused by Antero s hydraulic fracturing and other oil and gas operations in Garfield County, CO, and in connection with county proceedings involving a Health Impact Assessment. Representing Bostik in 11 toxic tort lawsuits involving 800 plaintiffs and a class action toxic tort lawsuit involving 250 plaintiffs regarding property damage and medical monitoring claims in connection with groundwater contaminated with PCE. Defending Homestake Mining in Wilcox v. Homestake Mining Co., and after securing an innovative case management order, obtained summary judgment on all claims of 28 plaintiffs alleging injury from radiation exposure. Defending Union Carbide in June v. Union Carbide Corp., and obtained summary judgment on claims of all 227 plaintiffs alleging injury from radiation exposure. Representing a large waste management firm when it was sued by 2,200 individual and corporate plaintiffs in multiple district courts for alleged arsenic contamination, defeating the principal claims on summary judgment and resolving the remaining claim in modest nuisance value settlements. Defending toxic tort claims arising from oil spills, accidental chemical releases, long-term groundwater contamination, hazardous air emissions, and radioactive waste discharges. Defending a major defense contractor in a mass toxic tort action by more than 50 plaintiffs seeking US$130 million from alleged exposure to carcinogens in public drinking water supply; after an evidentiary hearing and opinions from court-appointed and defense experts, the court excluded plaintiffs expert evidence on exposure and causation and granted summary judgment in favor of our client.