Environmental and Land Use Law

The Firm has far-ranging and widely recognized experience in environmental and land use law and litigation. The Firm represents businesses seeking to secure approvals for their projects, and advises them on the full range of regulations governing the use and development of land and water resources. We represent municipalities and their constituent boards in judicial and administrative proceedings and counsel them on effective environmental planning and permitting. We also assist environmental non-profit and other citizen organizations, as well as individuals, in promoting a safe and healthy environment.

For detailed information on the firm's work concerning Brownfields, go to the Brownfields Practice Page.

A representative sampling of our environmental and land use work includes the following:

• The Firm advised the City of Pittsfield which had its prime industrial property contaminated by PCBs. The Firm represented the City in successful mediation which took several years and produced a complex settlement in the form of a Consent Decree which was approved in the Fall of 2000 by a Federal District Court, worth in excess of $250 million dollars. The Firm also helped to devise and implement an innovative "Brownfields" redevelopment plan for the new Pittsfield Economic Development Authority ("PEDA") created to administer a portion of the settlement;
• The Firm represented a Massachusetts town in a nine-year battle against a large new landfill that threatened public and private water supplies, rare animal species and open space. As a result of the Firm's work, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection denied a permit for this project;
• The Firm counseled a Berkshire town which opposed the route for a proposed high pressure natural gas pipeline through sensitive areas. Through multi-forum administrative and judicial litigation, the Firm convinced the proponent to reroute the pipeline and avoid the town altogether, while making significant contributions to a local conservation fund.
• The Firm obtained a million dollar judgment against one of the largest industrial corporations in the world to reimburse a municipality for the costs of removing barrels containing hazardous waste from a municipal landfill;
• The Firm obtained a $950,000 settlement for its client, a landowner/developer, who sued a local Conservation Commission. The landowner claimed that the Conservation Commission violated his civil rights by denying permits for his projects, even though they would have only minor adverse effect on wetlands, while at the same time granting permits for other developers' projects that involved major wetland filling. The landowner also claimed that the permit denials were in retaliation for his criticism of the Conservation;
• The Firm represented a community which took contaminated property for nonpayment of taxes and sought clean-up from the responsible parties so the property could be redeveloped for beneficial uses. The Firm employed a multi-pronged strategy to achieve a negotiated settlement which was quicker and less expensive and thus helped the community achieve its goals years sooner than would otherwise have been the case;
• The Firm represented a family-owned company seeking a site assignment for a solid waste transfer station. After six hearings, and despite intense public opposition, the local Board of Health granted the site assignment. The Firm presented expert testimony on traffic, groundwater pollution, nuisance, wetlands, and other related issues in order to create a convincing factual record in favor of the site assignment;
• The Firm has helped non-profit organizations successfully preserve extensive parcels of land on the island of Martha's Vineyard, many with significant natural or other features, and has designed innovative financing and legal strategies to implement these actions. The Firm engaged in multi-forum litigation on behalf of one of those organizations, successfully spearheading opposition to a proposed luxury golf course which would have destroyed the last remaining contiguous woodlands in a designated "District of Critical Planning Concern;"
• The Firm won a precedent setting victory from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court which affirmed the right of a local board of health to determine whether a proposed solid waste facility would threaten the local environment;
• The Firm obtained a novel settlement on behalf of a neighborhood group that opposed the destruction of park land for a new public school. The neighborhood group brought an appeal before an Administrative Law Judge in Boston, claiming that the project would destroy two vernal pools on site. The Administrative Law Judge ruled in the neighborhood group's favor, but while further proceedings were pending, the parties settled. Under the settlement, the municipality reduced the intrusion into the park by twenty-five percent, imposed a conservation restriction on approximately 400 acres of park land and agreed to ensure that the quantity and quality of water in the vernal pools would remain the same after the project was built; and
• The Firm has drafted numerous bylaws and local regulations designed to provide local governments with the appropriate tools to regulate growth and protect the local environment.
• The Firm is involved in sustainable development. To learn more about the regional planning process in Vermont and links to regional planning commissions and other organizations, click here.