Environmental Transactions

Business transactions across all industries require legal counsel that can identify environmental risks and develop practical solutions for increasingly complex matters. As a full-service law firm with offices across the U.S. and Canada, Dickinson Wright is positioned to assist clients with domestic and international transactions. We advise private and public sector clients on real estate and corporate matters ranging from multimillion-dollar acquisitions, financings, and divestitures to the sale or lease of small-business properties.

Our team includes lawyers with backgrounds in environmental engineering, chemistry, urban planning, business, and communications. We remain current on industry developments through involvement in organizations such as the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, the College of Community Association Lawyers, the Air & Waste Management Association, and the Michigan Manufacturers Association. We also keep clients informed of regulatory changes and industry trends through timely publications and practical guidance.

Awards and Recognitions

Dickinson Wright lawyers have served as chairs of the Environmental Law Sections of the Michigan and Arizona state bars and have held leadership and active membership roles in the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources; the Air & Waste Management Association; and the Federal Bar Association’s Environmental Law Committee. Members of our team have also been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® and Super Lawyers®.

Our Services

We help clients evaluate and quantify environmental risks so they can make informed business decisions and address potential issues before they become disputes. We also advise clients on limiting liability associated with past contamination and prior noncompliance with environmental laws and regulations.

Property Development

Our lawyers advise clients on residential, corporate, industrial, and mixed-use developments. We assist throughout the development process by assessing properties, identifying required approvals and permits, and developing remediation and due care strategies. Our work includes:

• Assessing properties and complying with reporting, disclosure, and remediation requirements, including obtaining and filing baseline environmental assessments
• Helping transform contaminated properties into environmentally safe and economically viable developments
• Identifying required approvals and permits involving zoning, wetlands, floodplains, endangered species, well drilling, water use, sewer systems, and other development concerns
• Resolving real property valuation disputes involving contaminated properties

Brownfields

Our experience with brownfield redevelopment helps clients manage liability associated with contaminated properties. We assist sellers and developers with obtaining approvals and permits, structuring projects, and reducing transaction costs by evaluating available tax credits, grants, loans, and other financial incentives. We also help developers obtain environmental approvals and address water and sewer connections and private utility permitting.

Risk Allocation

We advise clients on environmental risk allocation through insurance coverage, indemnification provisions, and risk-sharing arrangements. Our team helps clients obtain environmental insurance for real estate and corporate transactions, including remediation cost-cap and secured-creditor policies. We also represent clients in insurance coverage matters arising from contaminated properties.

Due Diligence Investigations

We conduct and coordinate environmental compliance due diligence, including Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments, baseline environmental assessments, and due care plans. Our work includes preparing audit surveys, interviewing personnel, drafting due diligence reports, evaluating environmental risks and regulatory requirements, and assessing potential liabilities associated with acquisitions, mergers, financings, and other transactions involving companies and properties.

Due Care and Cleanup Obligations

Owners and operators of contaminated properties must comply with specific state and federal due care and cleanup requirements. Our team drafts post-closing agreements and advises clients on the procedures, controls, and remediation measures needed to satisfy those obligations.

Representative Matters

• Served as lead environmental counsel to a regional developer that acquired more than 30 parcels for the development of a mixed-use entertainment district in a historic downtown area.
• Served as national environmental counsel on real estate acquisitions and investments for companies with nationwide portfolios.
• Advised a manufacturing company on environmental issues associated with redeveloping a century-old brownfield site into a one-million-square-foot manufacturing facility, including the evaluation of PFAS concerns.
• Assessed environmental risks associated with an asphalt company’s sale of 37 properties and incorporated those risks into the transaction documents.
• Managed environmental due diligence for the acquisition of several manufacturing facilities in the United States and abroad.
• Obtained more than $2 million in brownfield grants and loans to redevelop a former VOC-contaminated site into a retail development and public amphitheater.
• Assisted clients with environmental provisions in access and license agreements, restrictive covenants, confidentiality agreements, post-closing obligation agreements, and easements.