current environmental cases
Our firm is litigating citizen suits with the goal of cleaning up natural resources contaminated with hazardous waste
ICO v. Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
We represent the Interfaith Community Organization (ICO) in a citizen suit brought under RCRA that resulted in the fencing and remediation of contaminated areas of Liberty State Park, the New Jersey State Park adjacent to New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty. Fencing was put around the non-remediated areas to prohibit public access. Over the years, in coordination with ICO and the Court, many of the areas have been remediated and opened to the public. One significant area remains fenced. That fenced area is a central area of the Park of approximately 230 acres that was previously used by visitors for running and other recreational activities. Decades after the Court ordered the fencing, New Jersey is engaged in a remediation and revitalization effort to reopen this area of the Park.
Interfaith Community Organization v. Honeywell International, Inc.
We represent the Interfaith Community Organization, the Hackensack Riverkeeper, and several individual plaintiffs in a citizen suit brought under RCRA that resulted in the excavation and removal of 1.5 million tons of toxic hexavalent chromium residue from a 34-acre site in Jersey City, New Jersey (known as the Roosevelt Drive-In Site or Study Area 7), and a clean-up of the deep ground water and sediments in the Hackensack River.
Hackensack Riverkeeper v. Honeywell International, Inc.
We represent the Hackensack Riverkeeper, and several individual plaintiffs in a citizen suit brought under RCRA that is resulting in the remediation of soils and groundwater at numerous properties in Jersey City, New Jersey (known as Study Areas 5 and 6) that are contaminated with toxic hexavalent chromium. Plaintiffs, Honeywell, and Jersey City have reached a settlement which provides for remediation protective of human health and the environment. The consent decrees include rigorous financial assurance requirements and multiple layers of institutional controls.
PennEnvironment v. PPG Industries, Inc.
We represent PennEnvironment and Sierra Club in a citizen suit brought under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law to remediate contaminated water and soil and to stop the discharge of pollutants into the Allegheny River in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, from a waste site formerly owned by PPG.
Raritan Baykeeper v. NL Industries, Inc.
We represent the Raritan Baykeeper and Edison Wetlands Association in a citizen suit brought under RCRA and the Clean Water Act to remediate the sediments of the Raritan River near Sayreville, New Jersey, which are contaminated by heavy metals from a former titanium dioxide operation.