HOUSTON – Jan. 31, 2019 — Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP’s Houston office will host an Environmental Law Institute (ELI) panel discussion on “CERCLA and the Department of Defense.” Environmental Practice Shareholder Christopher L. Bell will moderate the live event and webinar, and Shareholders Curtis B. Toll and Bernadette M. Rappold will serve as panelists, Feb. 13, 9:30 a.m. – 11 a.m. CT. The event is part of ELI’s 50th anniversary programming.
The program will discuss the foundational objectives of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund, and how these objectives have evolved since it was passed into law over 30 years ago. Panelists will discuss significant technological advances to streamline the assessments of damages, the issues surrounding the remediation and cleanup of Department of Defense sites, approaches to working with regulatory agencies, and cutting-edge and emerging technologies for damage assessments and remediation activities.
Bell, Toll, and Rappold will be joined by Ridgway M. Hall, Jr., vice president of Chesapeake Legal Alliance, and Susan C. Paulsen, Ph.D., P.E., principal scientist and practice director of Exponent for the program.
Bell represents clients in civil and criminal enforcement and investigations, litigation, compliance counseling, emergency incident response, and legislative and regulatory advocacy (including appellate challenges to rulemakings) under virtually all of the major environmental, health, safety, and natural resource laws. His enforcement experience includes internal investigations, responding to grand jury investigations and agency information requests, and negotiating consent, probation, and debarment agreements. He is currently the EPA independent monitor overseeing the nation’s largest investor-owned energy company’s compliance with complex debarment and probation agreements arising from the resolution of a criminal enforcement case brought under the Clean Water Act.
Toll is managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurig’s Philadelphia office and has a unique practice handling the management and mitigation of environmental risks in complex brownfield and environmental risk transfer projects. He has negotiated and manuscripted some of the most complex and significant environmental insurance programs in the country for real estate development projects, including military bases; stadiums; mixed-use developments; residential, retail, and commercial projects; and industrial and operating manufacturing facilities.
Rappold focuses her practice on federal and state regulatory issues related to energy and the environment. She has substantial litigation experience and advises clients on regulatory compliance as well as the environmental, safety, and health aspects of numerous business and real estate transactions, including water, air, and chemical hazards. Rappold offers clients perspective gained through years of service at the Environmental Protection Agency. While serving as a director of the Special Litigation and Projects Division in the Office of Civil Enforcement at the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Rappold led complex enforcement actions in response to violations of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and other environmental statutes.
About Greenberg Traurig's Environmental Practice: Greenberg Traurig’s Environmental Practice assists clients with issues under the environmental and natural resource laws that affect their businesses. The firm’s environmental attorneys assist with securing permits and approvals; negotiate and close transactions; defend clients in enforcement actions; handle a broad range of environmental and toxic tort litigation; ensure the understanding and satisfaction of regulatory requirements; prepare for and respond to emergencies; craft approaches for legacy cleanup issues; and develop solutions for product regulation, market access, and environmental policy challenges. GT received a first-tier ranking in the "Environmental Law" and "Litigation — Environmental" categories in the U.S. News - Best Lawyers 2017 "Best Law Firms" report.
About Greenberg Traurig, LLP: Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, was named the largest firm in the U.S. by Law360 in 2017, and is among the Top 20 on the 2018 Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com; Twitter: @GT_Law.
LINKS
Click here to read more on CERCLA and the Department of Defense on the Environmental Law Institute site.