Moderator: Frank Hearne, Esq., Chairman: Environmental Practice Group, Mechanik Nuccio Hearne & Wester, P. A.
Panelists:
Lauren D. Brooks, Esq., Senior Attorney, Lewis Longman & Walker
Michael Goldstein, Esq., Managing Shareholder, The Goldstein Environmental Law Firm, P.A.
Robyn D. Neely, Esq., Partner, Chair, Environment and Natural Resources Practice, Akerman, LLP
Howard Nelson, Esq., Partner, Government Relations & Land Development, Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod LLP
Ron H. Noble, Esq., Shareholder, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, PC
Nicholas C. Rigano, Esq., RIGANO, LLC
Gregory R. Wall, Esq., Partner, Hunton Andrews Kurth
Panel Description:
Leading environmental lawyers will discuss key legal issues revolving around PFAS including recent legislation, enforcement, litigation, transactional due diligence and other topics.
Frank Hearne, Esq., Chairman: Environmental Practice Group, Mechanik Nuccio Hearne & Wester, P. A.
Frank L. Hearne is a shareholder in the firm of Mechanik Nuccio Hearne & Wester, P.A., in Tampa, Florida where he practices exclusively environmental law. In addition to his legal credentials, Mr. Hearne holds an undergraduate degree in engineering focused on water resources and a master’s degree in zoology focused on aquatic and estuarine ecology. Mr. Hearne’s engineering and scientific training enables him to better comprehend the many technical aspects of his work such as geohydrology, assessment and remediation strategies, complex organic chemistry and other topics. A substantial portion of his legal practice of almost 40 years has been to advise public and private clients involving contaminated sites including cleanup programs in Florida and other states, federal Superfund sites, Brownfield designation and financial benefits, Brownfield Site Rehabilitation Agreements, site assessment, remedial action, risk assessment and monitoring, Site Rehabilitation Completion Orders, restrictive covenants implementing institutional and engineering controls, negotiation of environmental insurance coverage and assertion and collection of environmental insurance claims.
His experience also includes many types of properties such as former and permitted landfill sites, golf courses, industrial facilities, petroleum production and refining facilities, mines, dry cleaning and underground tank sites, automobile dealerships, rental car sites, wood treating sites, waste and wastewater treatment plants and many others which can be discussed in detail upon request. Representative recent sites include redevelopment of a large ground transportation site on a permitted landfill in Pinellas County, a manufactured gas plant and adjacent property in Tampa, the Delaney Creek Brownfield Redevelopment Area at a former battery recycling site, the “Pink Palace” Hotel in Bradenton, the Jacksonville Raceway site, the Former Wellcraft Boat Manufacturing Facility in Sarasota, the Tampa IKEA Store and the Avion Project consisting of several hotels and office buildings near the Tampa airport. He has extensive experience in all the major federal and state environmental regulatory programs including rule making, permitting and enforcement defense.
Over many years, he has been repeatedly named to several independent lists of outstanding environmental lawyers in the state and nation including, The Best Lawyers in America and Florida “Super Lawyers.” Mr. Hearne is a member of the Florida Bar Environmental and Land Use Section, the Florida Bar Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section and is on the Board of Directors of the Florida Brownfields Association. Personal and professional references are available upon request.
Lauren D. Brooks, Esq., Senior Attorney, Lewis Longman & Walker
Lauren Brooks’ practice focuses in the areas of environmental and land use regulation and litigation, local government law, and appeals. She represents corporate and individual clients, and local governments across Florida in state, federal, and administrative proceedings. Lauren is an officer of the Executive Committee of the Environmental and Land Use Section (ELULS) of the Florida Bar and also serves as the Chair of its Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Committee. Lauren was identified by Best Lawyers in America© on its “Ones to Watch” list (2021-23) and has also been named on the Florida Rising Stars List (2021-23) published by Super Lawyers. In 2021 and 2020 respectively, Lauren received the Stephens/Register Memorial Award and the Judy Florence Memorial Outstanding Service Award from the Environmental and Land Use Law Section of the Florida Bar. Lauren received her Bachelor of Science from Clemson University and earned her Juris Doctor from University of Florida Levin School of Law. While at University of Florida, Lauren served as Managing Editor of the Journal of Law & Public Policy. She also interned for the Honorable Roy B. Dalton of the United States District Court of Florida – Middle District. Following graduation, Lauren clerked for the Honorable Scott D. Makar of the Florida First District Court of Appeal.
Michael R. Goldstein, Esq., Managing Shareholder, The Goldstein Environmental Law Firm, P.A
Michael R. Goldstein, Managing Shareholder of The Goldstein Environmental Law Firm, P.A., and a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent and Chambers and Partners rated attorney, practices exclusively in the areas of environmental law and environmental redevelopment for a broad range of clients, including retail, residential, and industrial developers, public and private companies, real estate funds, lenders, and local governments. A major aspect of Mr. Goldstein’s environmental legal practice involves support of real estate and business transactions, including managing pre-acquisition and pre-leasing due diligence investigations; structuring, negotiating, and drafting environmental provisions in purchase, lease, and development agreements; and assisting lenders evaluate and limit the risk of exposure to environmental liability in connection with new loans and potential foreclosures. In addition, he works closely and extensively with real estate development principals and engineering, planning, and design professionals to help coordinate federal, state and local regulatory approvals for complex retail, industrial, residential, mixed use, and marina related projects throughout the State of Florida.
Mr. Goldstein’s practice has a heavy emphasis on the remediation, financing, and beneficial reuse of contaminated sites and involves a broad array of Brownfields related transactional, administrative, regulatory, legal, legislative, and policy work for clients in both the private and public sectors. He has developed a national reputation as one of the leading and most innovative Brownfields practitioners in Florida, working on important and precedent establishing projects as well as heading up or participating in numerous local, regional, state, and federal environmental restoration initiatives. On a statewide level, Mr. Goldstein was the founding Chairman of the Florida Brownfields Association and served as its Chairman and/or President for the first five years of the organization’s existence. Mr. Goldstein’s tenure as Chairman and President was distinguished by his commitment to elevating environmental justice and public health as critical areas of emphasis for business, community, regulatory agency, and local government stakeholders. In 1996, the Miami-Dade County Commission appointed him Chairman of the Miami-Dade County Brownfields Task Force, a post that he held until the committee’s business was completed in 2004. In January 2006, Mr. Goldstein was appointed to serve on the Advisory Board of the Bureau of National Affair’s highly respected Environmental Due Diligence Guide, which serves as a national reporting, editorial, and opinion forum for environmental transactions and related Brownfields and policy matters. In 2008, he founded and funded the Goldstein Brownfields Foundation, which is dedicated to empowering economically and health disadvantaged individuals and communities with scholarships, programming, and resources to restore polluted land, revitalize neighborhoods, and protect public health. The Goldstein Brownfields Foundation also focuses on increasing the ethnic and gender diversity of lawyers working in the environmental arena through academic scholarships, educational and career programming, and professional mentoring. In 2009, Mr. Goldstein was appointed to the Executive Committee of the National Brownfields Coalition, an affiliation of private and public sector stakeholders working in the U.S. Congress to advocate for improvements in environmental redevelopment policy and legislation.
Robyn D. Neely, Esq., Partner, Chair, Environment and Natural Resources Practice, Akerman, LLP
Robyn Neely focuses her practice on environmental site contamination issues related to real estate and corporate sales and acquisitions, and leases, including pre-acquisition, pre-leasing and pre-foreclosure due diligence analysis. Her practice also includes managing the investigation and remediation of contaminated properties and brownfield redevelopment including innovative solutions to risk management with risk based corrective actions. Her clients include private equity firms, homebuilders, residential apartment developers, hotels and resorts, lenders, international manufacturers, cell tower developers and service providers, municipal governments, and REITs throughout the United States.
Robyn’s comprehensive environmental experience includes the assessment and remediation of sites impacted by arsenic, petroleum, chlorinated solvents, chlorinated pesticides, PCBs, asbestos, and radon, and involves risk-based closures and other alternative strategies for site closure, as well as environmental compliance matters including defense of enforcement actions under CERCLA, RCRA and state environmental laws. Her experience also has included industrial wastewater, air quality, landfills and hazardous waste. In consultation with engineers, geologists, and other technical experts, she assists with environmental due diligence, compliance and risk assessments and develops practical and cost-effective strategies to address existing contamination, or environmental violations.
Robyn is consistently recognized by legal publications, including Chambers USA and Best Lawyers of America, which named her a Lawyer of the Year for Environmental Law.
Ron Noble, Esq., Shareholder, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC
Ron H. Noble represents clients in all areas of environmental due diligence, permitting and regulatory compliance. Other practice areas he has experience in include hazardous and solid waste regulation, wastewater treatment enforcement and permitting, environmental representation for land use and zoning matters, petroleum storage systems and negotiation of consent orders and related environmental enforcement actions with local agencies, DEP, EPA and the Department of Justice.
His representations include coordination with the full spectrum of local, state and federal regulatory agencies. Additional areas include representation of potentially responsible parties identified by EPA under CERCLA, environmental due diligence for real property acquisitions and advise clients with respect to regulatory compliance in the following areas: Clean Water Act (CWA), Superfund (CERCLA), RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act). Underground storage tanks, Asbestos and PCBs.
Ron has garnered an AV® Preeminent distinction, the highest available mark for professional excellence from Martindale-Hubbell’s Peer Review Ratings. He is listed as a leading Environmental lawyer in Florida by Chambers USA®, has been consecutively named to The Best Lawyers in America® list since 2008 and named to the Florida Super Lawyers list each year since 2006.
Nicholas C. Rigano, Esq., RIGANO, LLC
Nicholas Rigano joined Rigano LLC in 2017. Prior to joining the firm, he worked at well-known firms located in Manhattan and Long Island.
Nick represents clients in litigation and transactional real property matters involving environmental issues. His practice primarily concentrates on subsurface contamination, solid waste, and wetland issues. Nick is Chair of the PFAS Committee for the New York State Bar Association Environmental and Energy Law Section and is an appointed member of the New York State Bar Association Environmental Justice Committee. He was the Chair of the Environmental Law Committee for the Nassau County Bar Association and served on the Environmental Advisory Board for the Village of Garden City.
Nick also represents key constituents involved in Chapter 5 bankruptcy litigation and as well as creditors to Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 bankruptcies.
Nick has authored numerous articles published in periodicals such as the Bloomberg Law Reporter, Wall Street Journal Pro, the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review, the New York Real Estate Journal, and the New York Environmental Lawyer. He has lectured extensively on various environmental, bankruptcy and litigation topics at venues such as the Harvard Club, Nassau County Bar Association, CLE providers as well as for the New York State Bar Association.
Nick has been quoted or appeared in various media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Newsday, The New York Post, News12, ABC News, NPR, Bloomberg BNA, the Garden City News, Port Washington News, Riverhead News Review, East Hampton Star, Bethpage Newsgram, and the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.
Gregory R. Wall, Esq., Partner, Hunton Andrews Kurth
As a former US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) senior attorney, Greg uses his deep agency, regulatory and enforcement knowledge to assist clients in solving complex environmental matters, with specialized expertise in CERCLA/Superfund, brownfields, RCRA, FIFRA and TSCA legal issues.
With over 15-years of experience in environmental law, Greg assists clients in regulatory counseling, enforcement defense, litigation, and transactional matters. His experience in both private and public practice, in particular at EPA, provides him the ability to navigate the regulatory process with an informed understanding of government decision-making and strategies for efficiently resolving complex legal and policy issues. He has significant experience related to the acquisition and sale of environmentally-impaired property, conducting voluntary cleanups, and the re-development of brownfield sites, including for renewable energy projects, as well as advising clients on EPA regulations and policies across a diverse client base, including oil & gas, electric utility, chemical, mining and marine transport.
Greg’s extensive practice of CERCLA at the highest levels in the federal government allows him to advise clients, particularly the defense of clients facing government enforcement or private party contribution actions. While at EPA, Greg served as the lead EPA Headquarters attorney on cleanup enforcement cases at Superfund sites with remedies exceeding $1 billion and regularly worked on national matters involving CERCLA. He also authored multiple national guidance documents on CERCLA enforcement and drafted model settlement documents used by EPA nationwide. During his EPA tenure, Greg received numerous EPA and DOJ awards, including for his work on the Administrator’s Superfund Task Force and the development of EPA’s national enforcement response to the US Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway v. United States.
Greg is an adjunct professor at William & Mary Law School, teaching Environmental Law and the Regulation of Toxic Substances and Hazardous Waste.
Copyright © 2024 PFAS Forum - All Rights Reserved.
Powered by GoDaddy Website Builder
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.