The attorneys in Verrill Dana’s Environmental Law Group have been involved in nearly every major successful permitting project or environmental issue in Maine over the past decade. In addition, we represent clients on an array of environmental and land use issues in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Connecticut, California and other jurisdictions.
We develop innovative solutions to get projects built, help minimize environmental liabilities, address potential conflicts, efficiently resolve disputes, enable transactions to be completed notwithstanding environmental issues, address and settle issues raised by abutters, and represent clients in administrative proceedings, court appeals and other environmental or land-use litigation.
Our attorneys work collaboratively to develop strategic, pragmatic solutions that will help clients achieve their desired results. Over the years our attorneys have developed strong, long-term relationships with decision makers in federal and state regulatory agencies, as well as at the regional and local level.
The group’s clients include renewable energy developers, telecommunications providers, manufacturers, individual and commercial landowners, natural gas companies, water and waste water treatment facilities, environmental non-profits, higher education institutions, landfills and waste haulers.
The Environmental Group works closely with Verrill Dana’s Energy, Corporate, Real Estate, Litigation, and Tax practice groups, offering clients comprehensive legal services for matters ranging from large infrastructure projects to smaller, start-up initiatives.
The Group’s attorneys excel in the areas of:
- All aspects of project siting and permitting
- Administrative and judicial litigation over environmental and land use disputes
- Environmental assessments and cleanups, including “brownfields” redevelopment
- Administrative, civil and criminal enforcement actions
- Regulatory compliance, including facility inspections and audits
- Environmental due diligence and related transaction support
- Strategic advice in sustainability and environmental management
- Dealing with federal, state and local regulatory bodies
- Water resource management, including industrial and municipal waste water treatment and discharge, stormwater management, wetlands, riverine and other waterways restoration
- Hazardous waste management, including federal “Superfund” and Resource Conservation Recovery Act matters and their state analogs
Representative matters include:
- Representation of almost every approved large-scale wind power project in Maine, including a 185 MW wind power project in Somerset and Piscataquis counties, which will be the largest operational wind power project in New England, and more than a dozen other grid scale projects totaling over 700 MW located in both the organized and unorganized areas of the state
- Obtaining state and federal permits and necessary land interests for more than 200 miles of natural gas transmission line, one of Maine’s largest infrastructure projects in the last 50 years
- Successfully defended against challenges to permitted wind power projects before the state Board of Environmental Protection, Superior Court, and the Maine Supreme Court
- Representing a coalition of environmental groups and the Penobscot Indian Nation on their groundbreaking proposal to purchase and remove several dams located on the Penobscot River
- Negotiating the nature and scope of Maine’s first investigation and remediation of a former mine on behalf of a Canadian mine company
- Successfully obtained permits for more than 80 miles of electric transmission line connecting the bulk electrical transmission systems of New England and Canada
- Obtaining a federal court order limiting Maine’s jurisdiction over the decommissioning and cleanup of a nuclear power plant and then obtaining the necessary state permits
- Obtaining the permits necessary to expand one of only two commercial landfills in Maine
- Successfully represented an environmental group opposed to development of land adjacent to the state’s most significant wetland resource
- Creating and continuing to act as general counsel for company that first developed business model for acquiring and remediating environmental liabilities using insurance and risk transfer agreements
Representative Environmental Group clients include:
- Atlantic Management Co.
- Bangor Hydro-Electric Company
- Bowdoin College
- DCP Midstream
- Ecochlor, Inc.
- Emsource
- First Technology
- GAC Chemical Corp.
- Great Island Development
- Loring Development Authority
- Maine Community College System
- Maine Department of Transportation
- Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, L.L.C.
- The Nature Conservancy
- Noranda, Inc.
- Patriot Renewables, LLC
- Penobscot River Restoration Trust
- Plum Creek Timber
- Portland Water District
- Spectra Energy
- SunEdison
- TransCanada
- Verizon Wireless
- Waste Management
