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Environmental/Natural Resources

Environmental law is a complex system of interrelated statutes, regulations, rules, guidelines, administrative rulings and judicial decisions designed to promote public health, encourage safe practices and preserve the environment while balancing society's interest in economic growth.

These rules and regulations constantly change and evolve as science advances, political philosophies fluctuate and we all gain a greater understanding of how our actions impact each other and the world we share.

Watch our environmental video here.

Most businesses and communities encounter environmental issues at one time or another, and for some it is a daily concern.  To protect and grow your business or community, you need environmental lawyers with a deep knowledge of our complex system of federal, state and local environmental laws and broad experience preventing and solving environmental issues.

The attorneys of Ice Miller's Environmental/Natural Resources Practice Group have been helping our clients solve environmental challenges for many years, and we can help you as well.

Our reputation for obtaining excellent results in the environmental and natural resources arena has been well-earned over the years.  Among other things, we have assisted companies with permits and regulatory compliance, helping clients work through the environmental ramifications of large corporate mergers, working with state and local governmental officials when environmental disasters occur, pursuing and defending complex environmental lawsuits, dealing with insurance companies when coverage for environmental liabilities is in question, assisting private/public partnerships redevelop brownfields and defending class action lawsuits involving exposure to toxic waste.
 

Representative Experience

  • Allison Transmission, Inc.:  Ice Miller's environmental attorneys have worked with Allison on all environmental aspects of its operations.  These include internal audits, corrective actions, air permitting, spill responses, compliance with new MACT and NSPS regulations, hazardous waste handling and disposal, oil handling and disposal, TSCA, property transfers, EPA requests for information and PRP claims.
  • Ports of Indiana:  We represent the Ports of Indiana concerning environmental compliance, permitting, risk management, and insurance issues at each of its Indiana Ports:  Burns Harbor (Lake Michigan), Mt. Vernon (Ohio River), and Jeffersonville (Ohio River).
  • University of Illinois:  We have represented the University and worked with its technical consultants to obtain modified permits to allow the reliable supply of heat, hot water and electricity in an efficient manner and with necessary operating flexibility and backup capacity to its Chicago campus and two hospitals.  
  • Stepan Company:  We represent Stepan in connection with hearings and proceedings before the Illinois Pollution Control Board on a proposal by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to adopt more stringent standards for discharges of wastewater.  We have worked closely with the client and its consultants to present testimony regarding the costs of complying with the proposed standards and to evaluate alternative means of complying with the proposed standards or alternate standards should they be adopted.
  • City of Lima, Ohio:  Ice Miller's environmental attorneys represented the City of Lima with regard to a challenge to TMDL recommended limits for nutrients and other parameters that would apply to client’s storm sewer system and combined sewer overflows, as well as its wastewater treatment plant.  We had detailed and intimate involvement in the development of a proposed multi-metric nutrient rule.
Additional Experience
  • Our attorneys are working with U.S. EPA and local government officials on the redevelopment of a landfill site in Michigan City, Indiana. We have been involved with that site from the original remedial design stages, through construction, operation and maintenance of the remedy. We helped the client maintain and monitor institutional controls and obtain environmental protective easements and declarations of restrictive covenants. We are working toward a conversion of the gas system at the site, and we will seek closure and redevelopment of the former landfill site for recreational purposes.
  • We provide ongoing, day to day regulatory advice to a transportation company regarding various environmental matters involving land, waste and water issues. These services include advising on spill response requirements, negotiating with federal, state and local governmental officials regarding compliance issues, performing transactional due diligence review, providing general risk assessment and advising on insurance coverage for environmental claims. For example, we were called on to assist the client in addressing a release of chemicals from a transportation accident. We provided assistance during the immediate remediation efforts, working with the client's environmental consultant in coordinating the response activities and later negotiating with the state regulators in finalizing the remediation requirements and negotiating a resolution of the matter. We also assisted the client in evaluating legal obligations regarding property it considered leasing, which included reviewing historic and current environmental documentation and other due diligence and assessing potential liability exposure, mitigation of environmental exposure and legal obligations that may arise due to historical contamination.

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