Environment & Natural Resources

Sullivan counsels clients across a broad range of environmental matters, including litigation, regulation, project development, remediation and corporate transactions. The breadth of our expertise and the cost-structure of our platform allow us to truly partner with our clients to strategically manage environmental risks and to capitalize on business opportunities.

Drawing on our deep industry, regulatory and transactional expertise, we bring a sophisticated understanding not only of the environmental legal framework but also the practical business implications directly affecting our clients. Sullivan is distinguished by the caliber of its environmental attorneys – which include former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division lawyers – the diversity of environmental and natural resource issues on which we advise and our thought leadership in helping clients adapt to changing market trends. By bringing together environmental practitioners recognized by Chambers USA and Best Lawyers in America for their skills in litigation, regulation and transactions, Sullivan is well-positioned to counsel clients through all stages of environmental matters. Given the global nature of our transactional practice, we routinely advise on cross-border and international issues and collaborate with foreign advisors to address environmental risks. To help devise innovative, tailored solutions, we also leverage the firm’s broader expertise, drawing on our real estate, tax, corporate, securities and energy practices.

Representative Client Work

Environmental Compliance, Litigation & Contamination

• Advised clients on various compliance issues under the federal Clean Air Act and State Implementation Plans
• Represented a coal company in negotiations with state agency to address environmental impacts from legacy mining operations
• Represented a real estate developer in connection with indemnity dispute regarding costs to address legacy site contamination
• Negotiated a substantially reduced settlement payment by auto parts manufacturer to resolve environmental cost recovery litigation with EPA and private entities by demonstrating remedy selected and performed by the agency was based on faulty conceptual site model

Environmental Transactions

• Represented an affiliate of Cube Hydro Partners in its acquisition of four hydropower stations in North Carolina totaling 215 MWs.
• Represented a seller in the $890 million sale of its sulfuric acid virgin production and regeneration business
• Represented a buyer in a $435 million acquisition of a large-scale cobalt refinery
• Represented a lender in connection with asset-based revolving credit facility for manufacturing business
• Counseled buyer on bankruptcy protections applicable to a target company for legacy site contamination and asbestos exposure claims, including the interaction of an asbestos trust and related channeling injunction
• Represented a private equity investor in connection with the development of a greenfield 869-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas-fired generation facility

Pesticide & Chemical Regulation

• Represent generic agricultural chemical companies entering the U.S. market (including the first Indian and Korean companies to be awarded a technical registration by the U.S. EPA), involving data compensation negotiations and arbitrations, business strategy, and product defense
• Represented numerous clients in multi-million dollar negotiations and arbitrations addressing the compensation due for reliance upon pesticide data previously filed with EPA
• Represented clients in federal and state pesticide enforcement matters, including negotiation of state consent order providing for a significantly reduced penalty and establishing a precedential environmental benefit project to underwrite the collection and environmentally sound disposal of waste pesticides
• Designed and supervised audit of pesticide compliance for client holding in excess of 100 pesticide registrations

Water Law & Resource Management

• Representing client at complex aquatic site involving investigation, remediation and redevelopment of significant river watershed
• For major financial institution and national labor unions, developed an innovative framework for structuring public-private water infrastructure finance projects
• Developed "Go-to-Market" program to assist Israeli water technology companies seeking to access capital markets, license their technologies, and commercialize their products and services in the United States

Climate-Related Business & Technology

• Advised a California forest trust in negotiating one of the country’s first contracts for the sale of carbon credits from a forest trust
• Represented a new casino in the development of thermal and retail power supply agreements, including provisions to address potential effect of future climate-change legislation and to require that contractors fulfill LEED green building standards
• Gained inclusion in LEED for homes credits for a manufacturer of energy-efficient faucets and shower heads
• Advised project sponsor on the aggregation and sale of carbon credits to help fund water treatment initiatives in Kenya