Roy P. Giarrusso

Environmental Litigation

We are well known for our successful handling of complex environmental litigation matters for major corporations, project developers and property owners throughout New England. The legal disputes that our clients encounter typically involve complex government regulations and agencies such as the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in both Superfund sites and Massachusetts Chapter 21E sites. In many cases, our clients are asked to clean up the mess that other corporations left behind, including contaminated groundwater, soil or drinking water; indoor air issues or “sick building” cases caused by toxic fumes; improper disposal of hazardous materials; or undisclosed land and property damage prior to purchase of property. These matters include:

• Defense of government enforcement proceedings under CERCLA, RCRA, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, Chapter 21E and comparable State Superfund laws
• Federal and State Superfund cost recovery and contribution actions, in appropriate circumstances on a contingent fee basis
• Environmental contract disputes, including those related to indemnification and insurance recovery
• Environmental qui tam actions

Our representation routinely involves developing strategies to:

• Minimize clean-up and remediation costs
• Identify options and potential targets to recover clean-up and remediation costs
• Develop allocations of costs among responsible parties
• Develop potential settlement strategies where warranted
• Negotiate with government agencies at both the State and Federal levels such as the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ)
• Prosecute and defend cost recovery and contribution actions

We are a boutique litigation firm with the experience in a wide range of environmental matters to handle substantial cases for large corporations, including the world’s largest solid waste company and the country’s largest defense contractor. We also specialize as PRP group counsel in Superfund cost recovery and contribution actions, one of the very few firms in the nation with the requisite experience and success to provide such legal services in this nuanced area of law on a contingency fee basis.