Industries & Practices
Environmental Law
We help clients with environmental compliance and enforcement issues, allowing them to protect and grow their businesses and communities.
Our firm is known to be at the forefront of the regulatory proceedings that are shaping the future of environmental regulation. We were intimately involved with the implementation of House Bill 592 which revolutionized the solid waste business in Ohio.
Our environmental practice focuses on all aspects of environmental law, both state and federal, including counseling on regulatory compliance and litigation before Ohio’s Environmental Review Appeals Commission (ERAC) and state and federal courts.
We work frequently with the following types of clients:
- Manufacturers
- Energy companies and pipeline companies
- Solid waste, hauling and disposal companies
- Municipalities and government agencies
- Real estate developers and private property owners
Landfill clean-up litigation
Serve as litigation counsel for the Dayton Power & Light Company relating to a clean-up of an old landfill pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act ...
MoreInternational manufacturing facility in central Oh...
Retained by an Italian-based company to provide all legal services in the construction and development of a 1.4 million-square-foot manufacturing facility in central Ohio. One of the main aspects o...
MoreWater/wastewater treatment equipment issues
Represented multiple utilities against different manufacturers of large-scale treatment equipment such as coarse screening equipment, membrane bioreactors, tertiary filters, and nano filtrati...
MoreCERCLA litigation
Served as trial counsel in Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) litigation representing a current owner against various potentially responsible parties. Su...
MoreSurface water treatment plant delay
Represented a public owner in a lawsuit against a contractor when a $14 million surface water treatment plant was delivered over a year late and the contractor made claims for additional payment. More
Landfill project component failure
Represented a contractor in a lawsuit against a public owner when payment was withheld after a component of the landfill project failed.
MoreLandfill liner construction
Represented a landfill contractor in a lawsuit where the subcontractor made claims for delay damages.
MoreCleveland-area solar farm development
Represented Cuyahoga County in closing a $10 million financing transaction for the development of a solar farm on former landfill property near Cleveland. The solar farm covers 17 acres and co...
MoreAreas of Focus
Air, Water & Solid/Hazardous Waste
We regularly advise clients with respect to compliance with the Clean Air Act and Ohio’s air permitting program; the Clean Water Act and Ohio’s NPDES permitting program; the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); and Ohio’s hazardous and solid waste laws, including solid waste management plans, flow control, recyclables, alternative daily cover (ADC) and beneficial use of waste materials. We also defend clients in enforcement actions brought by Ohio EPA or U.S. EPA under environmental laws, including negotiating Ohio EPA Director’s Final Findings and Orders (DFFO) to resolve environmental enforcement issues.
Wetland & Water Permitting
Many real estate projects involve wetland and stream impacts requiring permitting under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, which also triggers 401 Water Quality Certifications (WQCs) from Ohio EPA. We advise clients on the process and practical implications of these permitting programs and have successfully defended 401 WQCs challenges at ERAC and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. We also advise clients with respect to the application of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to various projects, including the Endangered Species Act (ESA), National Historic Preservation Act and Section 106 reviews.
CERCLA/Superfund Litigation
Collectively, our attorneys have decades of experience with Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability (CERCLA) litigation, including successfully defending on appeal the dismissal of a CERCLA contribution claim based on a statute of limitations. We have been involved in both Section 107 cost recovery actions and Section 113 contribution actions and are active in CERCLA cases and sites in Ohio involving expert witness testimony, Daubert challenges and allocation based on the Gore factors.
Transactional Due Diligence
We assist our firm’s transactional attorneys in evaluating due diligence methods for real property transfers (including Phase I ESAs and Phase II ESAs) and mergers, acquisitions and financing matters. We assist clients in brownfield sites, including counseling on Ohio’s Voluntary Action Program (VAP) and Ohio’s Cessation of Regulated Operations (CSOs) program.
USTs, PUSTRCB & Release Notifications
We counsel clients on compliance with Ohio’s underground storage tank program operated by the Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations (BUSTR) and claims made to Ohio’s Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Release Compensation Board (PUSTRCB). Our attorneys also handle release notifications required under Ohio law, the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and CERCLA.
People
Dylan F. Borchers
Partner
Aaron M. Bruggeman
Of Counsel
Matthew R. Koppitch
Senior Associate
Glenn S. Krassen
Of Counsel
Frank L. Merrill
Partner
Teresa Orahood
Paralegal
Devin D. Parram
Partner
Karia A. Ruffin
Associate
Christine Rideout Schirra
Partner
Adam W. Seeley
Associate
Sommer L. Sheely
Partner
Matt Warnock
Partner & Energy Industry Group Chair
Megan S. Zemke
Paralegal