Transportation: Environmental, Health and Safety
Holland & Knight's Transportation Team has comprehensive experience providing environmental, health and safety counsel to companies in the transportation space. We represent railroads, shippers, airlines, maritime facility operators and the largest bulk liquid transportation company in North America, as well as International Organization for Standardization (ISO) container transporters at ports, railroads, chemical manufacturers, packaging companies and distributors.
Many of the matters that Holland & Knight handles involve compliance and permitting advice, developing and managing compliance programs, enforcement actions, litigation, transactional support and risk management advice with respect to transportation operations. These matters include federal and state enforcement actions involving spills of chemical products into navigable waters, storage of chemicals at transportation and maintenance terminals, compliance with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous incident and disposal regulations, compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations, as well as litigation involving historical disposal of hazardous wastes from transportation and manufacturing facilities.
We also counsel clients in real estate matters involving the sale of former transportation terminals, as well as the acquisition of new transportation companies.
Holland & Knight's recent work in this space includes:
◼ Successfully defending clients on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enforcement actions alleging violations of the Clean Water Act in various states, spill incidents and underground injection well operations in North Dakota, alleged violations of OSHA regulations, and federal and state RCRA regulations across the United States; in many instances, certain regulations were not applicable to transportation operations and we achieved dismissal of Notices of Violations
◼ Defending a major federal lawsuit and parallel EPA enforcement action against a client alleged to have improperly disposed of waste from tank cleaning operations at its transportation terminal in the Southeast
◼ Successfully defending a transportation company client on a potential EPA debarment proceeding
◼ Advising a client on U.S. Department of Homeland Security regulations governing the storage of chemicals at transportation facilities
◼ Successful defense of client accused of arranging for transportation and disposal of a regulated material in violation of the Clean Water Act and the RCRA
◼ Representing a client in numerous multiparty cost recovery actions brought by EPA and private parties to recover the costs of remediation of Superfund sites where waste from the client's operations were historically disposed; these matters include complex litigation in New Jersey, South Carolina, New York, Texas, Ohio and California, including the Passaic River Superfund site in Newark, N.J., and the U.S. Oil Recovery (USOR) Superfund site in Houston, both of which have received national attention
◼ Analyzing and advising clients on operational procedures involving chemical products, oil field wastes, frack water and petroleum, including assisting with preparing standard operating procedures, environmental compliance plans and regulatory compliance
◼ Successfully defending transportation clients against OSHA citations and enforcement actions, as well as providing OSHA audit and compliance advice
◼ Managing environmental compliance audits, implementing any corrective measures and retaining consultants covering more than 100 transportation terminals in the U.S.
◼ Responding to government requests for information and subpoenas in response to EPA requests under federal laws, such as the Clean Air Act
◼ Perform risk analysis of operations regarding emerging contaminant concerns, such as per- and polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS) and develop mitigation measures
◼ Assisting with the development of standard operating procedures and waste generator profiles
◼ Negotiate settlement agreements and mitigate penalty risks with state regulators
◼ Synthesizing compliance programs with company-wide environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals and best practices
◼ Providing clients with environmental transactional advice in corporate and real estate acquisitions, as well as leases and subleases
CONTACTS
Andy Emerson Partner | Washington, D.C.
202.469.5118
andrew.emerson@hklaw.com
Meaghan Colligan
Associate | Washington, D.C. 202.469.5406
meaghan.colligan@hklaw.com
