Practices
Environmental

Environmental

Virtually all companies in all industry sectors are faced with myriad of federal, state and local laws and regulations related to environmental, health and safety (EHS) matters. Shipman’s multidisciplinary environmental team advises clients on not only existing EHS requirements, but also industry standards, and emerging developments with respect to environmental legislation, regulation, policy, and management on a national, regional and local level.

Our environmental practice has been recognized consistently by Chambers & Partners USA, the nation’s preeminent guide to law firms and individual attorneys. According to Chambers USA, "Shipman is unique in that it has regional knowledge and partners who have worked on a national and international level.” Several of our environmental lawyers have advanced degrees in the sciences, have clerked for state and federal courts and/or have worked for state EHS regulatory agencies/legislative offices and many have been selected as Super Lawyers®, a national rating service designating lawyers who have achieved a high degree of peer recognition and professional development.

Our national and regional clientele includes manufacturers, developers, lending institutions, educational institutions, healthcare entities, insurance companies, energy companies, and private clients. Our level of service and sophistication of clients across substantive and geographical areas distinguishes us from other firms.

We advise clients on the full range of EHS and energy matters in the business, transactional, regulatory compliance and litigation (administrative, civil and criminal) context. Our clients have required assistance on significant environmental matters in dozens of states and we have recently handled environmental matters for clients nationally in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin and in Toronto, Canada.

PFAS

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of human-made chemicals that encompass ~4,000 different compounds, many around since the 1940s. PFAS are found in commonly encountered products, including non-stick coatings, waterproof fabrics, firefighting foams, car wash soaps/waxes, floor waxes, architectural resins, cosmetics and other consumer products.

Counseling, Permitting and Transactional Support

Shipman’s environmental lawyers routinely provide business and compliance counseling, permitting and transactional support on key federal and state environmental, health and safety requirements to clients in various industries, including construction, business and finance, healthcare, education, energy, insurance, manufacturing, specialty chemicals, maritime and real estate.

Environmental Litigation and Enforcement

Shipman’s environmental litigators represent clients in administrative, civil and criminal enforcement and litigation matters across the full range of environmental sectors. We vigorously advocate for our clients to resolve difficult environmental issues while keeping our focus on the client’s end goals.

Industrial and Specialty Chemical Compliance

Shipman’s lawyers in the industrial and specialty chemical compliance practice assist manufacturers, importers, distributors, processors, laboratories and healthcare facilities with placing new and existing chemical substances into the marketplace, keeping the substances in commerce and properly handling and/or disposing of them.

Environmental Insurance and Risk Management

Shipman’s environmental lawyers regularly advise on numerous environmental insurance and risk management matters, both regionally and nationally. We counsel our clients with innovative legal risk management strategies (including the use of environmental insurance and other liability transfer strategies) to box in risk.

Emergency Response and Natural Resource Damages

Members of our practice have developed a national reputation in the area of oil and chemical spills, including emergency response and the assessment and restoration of natural resource damages (NRDs), representing domestic and international energy, manufacturing, shipping and insurance clients in both the aquatic and terrestrial environments across the country.

Clean Energy and Renewable Fuels

Shipman's clean energy and energy efficiency lawyers assist clients with clean energy projects, including solar, fuel cell, combined heat and power, geothermal and waste to energy. Our services include permitting and securing government and market incentives and financing to implement energy and cost-saving strategies.

Workplace Environmental, Health and Safety

Workplace environmental, health and safety (EH&S) requirements under both the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and state EH&S agencies (e.g., Connecticut OSHA (CONN-OSHA)) requirements are complex, evolving and stringent. For employers, particularly those in industries susceptible to workplace injuries and safety hazards, it is imperative to have an experienced legal team to help navigate the regulatory landscape and to create a safe and healthy work environment.

Commercial real estate

Multi-Year Development of Major Manhattan Mixed-Use Properties

Affiliates of Ceruzzi Holdings

Represent affiliates of Ceruzzi Holdings in connection with a multi-year development of major mixed-use properties located at 86th Street and Lexington Avenue and 50th Street and Lexington Avenue. Our representation has included advice in connection with complex land use and air rights matters, condominium, ground lease, multi-tier debt and equity structuring as well as leasing, construction and development matters.

Environmental

Provide comprehensive support to renewable energy storage developer, including facilitating processes of permitting, leasing arrangements and engagement with governmental bodies.

We provide energy, environmental and permitting counsel to a national renewable energy and battery energy storage developer in connection with site control and leasing, liability risk management for brownfield sites, as well as regulatory representation before the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority regarding Energy Storage System (ESS) and procurement and permitting matters.

Advised Commercial Property Owner in Connection with Response to Release of PFAS-containing Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) From Exterior Fire Suppression System

We counseled a commercial property owner in connection with its response to a PFAS-containing release of Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) from a helipad fire suppression system due to a mechanical malfunction. As part of our involvement, we advised the client with respect to applicable (and evolving) state and federal environmental reporting and remediation requirements, insurance coverage issues and forward-looking risk management strategies. Our engagement involved coordinating with the client’s third-party spill response/cleanup team, state regulators and the client’s inhouse environmental, legal and engineering departments.

Advising Regional Airport Operator Regarding Potential Historical PFAS Contamination

As part of its obligations under a long-term lease and management agreement, we are advising an airport operator in connection with potential historical PFAS contamination from on-site firefighting training. Our advice includes evaluating current and future federal and state PFAS requirements, developing a strategic investigation/due diligence approach, evaluating potential remediation and mitigation/risk management options (including environmental insurance) and negotiating the allocation of responsibilities and liabilities among various parties.

Assisting a Multinational Specialty Chemicals Manufacturer Evaluate and Manage PFAS Risks Associated with Site Remediation and Wastewater Management

We are assisting a multinational specialty chemicals manufacturer assess and manage various PFAS risks, including on- and off-site soil and groundwater remediation, wastewater discharges/permitting, hazardous waste generation and transitioning the facility’s stationary and mobile fire suppression systems away from PFAS-containing aqueous film forming foam (AFFF).

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Environmental litigation

Resolved Cost Recovery Claim for Environmental Remediation

Life Sciences Technology Firm

Asserted a claim against a major pharmaceutical company that previously owned our client’s property that under the Transfer Act, the company was responsible for the clean-up of a large quantity of contaminated soil.

Defended CERCLA Action Regarding Former Ball Bearing Factory

Big-5 Auto Maker

Federal court action brought by the current property owner alleging claims under CERCLA, RCRA, state statutes and common law.

Defended CERCLA Action by a Competitor at a Superfund Site

Merriam Manufacturing Company

Defended a manufacturing company at trial in a federal court action by a competitor at a Superfund site.

Defeated Negligence Claim against Environmental Consulting Firm over Lead Paint in Auctioned Property

Dames & Moore, Inc.

Obtained summary judgment for an environmental consulting firm on a claim that it negligently misrepresented the extent of lead paint present in a multi-family residential building sold at auction. The Hartford Superior Court found that the company owed no duty to the plaintiff who purchased the property at the auction because the firm’s contract was only with the asset management company that sold the property. Morris v. Dames & Moore, Inc., 1997 WL 255081 (May 2, 1997).

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Independent schools

$43M CHEFA Financing for Independent School

Represented an independent school on its $43 Million CHEFA Series E Bond issue, which refinanced the School’s existing debt to achieve significant debt service savings. The transaction involved lawyers from our finance and environmental groups, who worked with the School’s staff and Board representatives to draft, negotiate and complete the required documentation for a successful financing.

Industrial and specialty chemical compliance

Advised Manufacturer on Domestic and International Specialty Chemical Compliance Matters

Represented an international metalworking fluid developer, manufacturer and service provider. Assisted with registrations and compliance for new products and ingredients under applicable state and federal laws, including the recent substantive amendments to the federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Also advised on federal and state hazard warning/labeling requirements and on the regulatory/compliance aspects of potential formula and manufacturing process changes.

Land use approvals and litigation

Secured Approvals and Purchase of Commercial Property for Multifamily Redevelopment Project

32-36 Iron Horse LLC

Represented developer in the purchase of a construction company’s storage yard for use in a planned residential redevelopment a block from the main commercial artery through Simsbury, CT. The project is a 175-unit multifamily development with 10 percent of the units designated for affordable rents, with walking trails connecting to the Rails to Trails Greenway path on town-owned land. The firm provided end-to-end support on the transaction beginning with the execution of a purchase contract, followed by oversight of environmental investigation and remediation work and a Transfer Act evaluation. The team also helped obtain a wetlands permit and zoning special exception for the new development from town land use boards. The culmination of the matter resulted in the successful closing of the contract.

Acquisition and Land Use Approvals for Federally Qualified Health Center

Represented Federally Qualified Health Center in the acquisition and development of real property in downtown Winsted, Connecticut, enabling the client to expand and meet the growing need of the medically-underserved living in the area so that they may have access to quality, affordable and comprehensive primary and preventive health services. The Center will serve a racially and economically diverse population, many of whom have limited employment, transportation, housing and financial resources by adding additional exam rooms, providers, support staff, and equipment in a convenient location, dramatically reducing the number of adults who have no care, or have delayed or not sought care. Over the course of eighteen months, our team handled the negotiation of the purchase transaction, related land use approvals including the successful appeal of a denial by the local planning and zoning commission, as well as related historic, regulatory and environmental matters, allowing for closing of the transaction in early 2018.

Represented Toll Brothers, Inc. in Acquisition of Property for Large Mixed Use Developments in Stamford and Norwalk

Toll Brothers, Inc.

Represented this leading national developer in the acquisition of four parcels along Summer Street, Bedford Street and North Street in Stamford, Connecticut, which will be developed into a new, seven-story, mixed-use development with ground-floor retail, parking garage and several-hundred apartments with related amenity space. Our team assisted with several aspects of the transaction, including reviewing and confirming land use approvals, examining and advising on title matters, advising on environmental matters, and preparing and negotiating closing documents and agreements.

General

Assist Multi-Family Residential Developer Client in Connection with Agency-Requested PFAS Sampling

We represent a real estate development company in connection with the financing, environmental due diligence and remediation and redevelopment of various multi-family residential development projects in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Our representation includes negotiating the environmental provisions of the Purchase and Sale Agreements, advising on the application for a Flood Management Certificate, managing the design and implementation of dedicated environmental insurance coverage as well as navigating RCRA, state brownfield program and CT Transfer Act environmental investigation/remediation obligations. We also counsel the client in connection with its response to a multi-agency request to perform PFAS sampling in connection with the private and public financing of a development. We work closely with the client’s environmental consultant to prepare and implement an investigation and sampling plan and coordinate with the private/public lenders and DEEP to address PFAS concerns.

Successful Affiliation of Two Major Healthcare Organizations

Lawrence + Memorial and Yale New Haven Health

A team of Shipman & Goodwin attorneys, led by Joan Feldman, assisted Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in the negotiation of its affiliation with Yale New Haven Health, and jointly represented both L+M Corporation and Yale New Haven Health in obtaining all the needed regulatory approvals from the State of Connecticut to complete the transaction, including certificate of need approval from the Office of Health Care Access for the system affiliation and the combination of the affiliated medical foundation. The affiliation process extended over an eighteen-month period with many complex regulatory hurdles, along with coordinated corporate, transactional, labor and employment, and environmental legal counsel.

$28+ Million Customized Secured Lender Environmental Insurance Policy Permits National Bank to Close Construction Loan

Successfully guided a national bank client to procure and bind a customized environmental insurance program in connection with the bank’s $28+ million construction loan for its borrower in California. The loan’s collateral property involved a former industrial site near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), slated for redevelopment into a world-class office headquarters for a major (Fortune 10) technology tenant. The environmental insurance program consisted of a bespoke “secured lender” base policy with $10 million in limits and an “excess” layer from another insurer with over $18 million in limits to protect the bank in case the borrower defaults on loan payments due to a pollution condition. Without the insurance, the lender would not have been comfortable with the environmental risks presented by the collateral property, making the insurance program one of the most critical facets of the entire transaction. Total costs (including all premiums, taxes, broker commissions and legal fees) for the environmental insurance program (borne by the borrower) amounted to just 0.3% of the loan principal.

$16M Tax Credit Financing Construction to Permanent Loan

$16M Tax Credit Financing Construction to Permanent Loan secured by leasehold mortgage in certain real property in Connecticut. The transaction also involved Low Income Housing Tax Credits (state and federal), a Department of Housing Loan, Section 8 Housing, an Affordable Housing Loan and a Subsidized Advance from Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston. Additionally, our environmental team advised on environmental and remediation requirements.

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