Environmental Litigation

Dickinson Wright attorneys handle a broad range of environmental litigation, from cleanup and cost-recovery claims to personal injury matters and agency disputes. Our work includes large class actions, multiparty commercial disputes, and individual permit denials. By combining experienced litigators with lawyers who understand the technical issues involved, we are able to address the full range of challenges that arise in complex environmental cases.

While no business welcomes litigation, our lawyers understand the legal, technical, and practical factors that shape environmental claims. We regularly handle matters involving cleanup costs, personal injury, and property damage, and we know when and how to narrow the scope and value of disputed claims. With offices across the United States and Canada, our team is well-positioned to assist clients wherever environmental disputes arise.

Our Team

Our environmental lawyers remain current on developments in environmental litigation through active involvement in the environmental and regulated communities. Team members have held leadership roles in the Environmental Law Sections of the Michigan, Arizona, and Tennessee state bars; the Air & Waste Management Association; the Michigan Manufacturers Association Environmental Committee; the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources; and the Federal Bar Association’s Environmental Law Committee. They also serve as faculty for bar-sponsored environmental programs, publish on significant legal issues, and participate in stakeholder groups that influence environmental policy and legislation. Many of our environmental litigators have been recognized by Super Lawyers® and Best Lawyers®.

Our Services

When collaboration and negotiation are no longer viable, our attorneys defend clients in actions and investigations initiated by federal, state, and local environmental agencies. In court and administrative proceedings, we have represented clients in matters involving landfills, industrial solvents, dry-cleaning operations, underground storage tanks, and surface spills under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and other environmental laws.

Our administrative, civil, and criminal defense work extends from responding to initial requests for information through penalty negotiations, supplemental environmental project negotiations, and final settlement. We have defended clients in matters involving air emissions, soil vapor, soil and sediment contamination, groundwater impacts, noise, vibration, asbestos, and mold. In each case, we pursue outcomes that align with the client’s business objectives and budget. We represent clients before regulatory bodies and in state and federal courts at every level.

Our environmental litigation team handles disputes involving:

• Class actions
• Civil and criminal government enforcement actions
• Multiparty joinder actions
• Citizen suits
• Superfund and state cost-recovery and contribution litigation
• Administrative trials and appeals
• Environmental compliance litigation
• Toxic tort litigation
• National Environmental Policy Act litigation
• Resource Conservation and Recovery Act citizen suits

We also prosecute environmental claims on behalf of clients, including traditional tort claims and actions seeking insurance coverage. When necessary, we bring actions against government agencies to protect clients’ rights to obtain environmental permits. Our representation of municipal wastewater treatment plant operators is one example of our ability to prosecute and defend environmental claims. Other attorneys also seek our assistance as group counsel in multiparty environmental actions and as arbitrators in environmental disputes.

Representative Matters

• Served as trial counsel for an oil company in a case involving alleged property damage from naturally occurring radioactive material, resulting in the first defense verdict in the United States in such a case.
• Represented a major steel bar manufacturer and negotiated a consent decree with a state air quality division that reduced the penalty by more than $22,500.
• Successfully prosecuted claims against an irrigation district and pesticide applicator on behalf of a large agricultural client involving crop damage caused by pesticide-contaminated irrigation water.
• Arbitrated a multimillion-dollar dispute between the seller and purchaser of a mixed-use development involving groundwater contamination.
• Represented developers in defending claims involving new releases and pursuing claims related to historic soil and groundwater contamination.
• Successfully appealed permit conditions involving Title V, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, wastewater discharge, and wetlands requirements.
• Counseled a municipality in litigation involving a proposed in-situ mining operation and represented a mining company in a dispute with the Bureau of Land Management concerning environmental issues and deed restrictions.
• Negotiated an insurance program covering more than 100 residential and commercial properties to help prevent homeowner litigation associated with one of Michigan’s largest remediation sites.