Waste Management
Environmental Law Counsel brings years of experience representing clients in the waste management industry with permitting and compliance issues. We have represented owners and operators of active and closed landfills, operators of landfill-gas-to energy systems, and a variety of parties with closure or post-closure compliance responsibilities or CERCLA liabilities. We particularly enjoy assisting clients in obtaining approvals for projects involving unique waste streams or innovative technologies that “push the envelope” of existing regulations.
Representative Matters
Our notable relevant experience includes the following:
- Represented municipality in the contested siting of a waste transfer station before the Illinois Pollution Control Board.
- Represented Global Fortune 500 waste management company in response to USEPA Unilateral Order to clean up a major CERCLA site in northern Indiana, including negotiation of Record on Decision and Scope of Work for remediation, and subsequent negotiations and litigation with large group of potentially responsible parties in the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.
- Represented owner of two municipal landfills in response to state Remedial Action Priority Site listing, including soil and groundwater investigations, obtaining approval of remediation plan, development of community relations plan, compliance with National and State Contingency Plan requirements, and filing of environmental insurance claims.
- Proposed and obtained site-specific “delisting” of landfill leachate as a hazardous waste for an Illinois landfill, minimizing transportation and disposal costs.
- Obtained streamlined rules for bioreactor landfills in state rulemaking on Research, Development & Demonstration (RD&D) facility permits.
- Advised on applicability of Clean Air Act and state air and waste regulations to waste gasification project.
- Drafted language for bills submitted in the Illinois General Assembly, met with legislators, and prepared and presented testimony in support of such bills, including bills addressing disposal of clean construction debris, landfill siting, and environmental agency procedures.