Sonnenschein's versatile group of Environmental, Energy and Public Resources lawyers assist clients in a broad range of ways, including compliance assistance, enforcement defense, contaminated property transfers and development, and environmental planning and litigation.
For Wisconsin Electric Power Co. we successfully negotiated a major Clean Air Act settlement as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s initiative against power plants. The $600 million settlement, accomplished in a record two-and-a-half months, is expected to eliminate more than 105,000 tons of air pollutants annually from five coal-fired electricity generating plants in Wisconsin and Michigan, and resolves the federal government’s claims that Wisconsin Electric did not comply with the New Source Review provisions of the Clean Air Act.
Cargill, Incorporated retained Sonnenschein to assist and advise it with respect to potential environmental issues in the context of an acquisition of a company, whose domestic subsidiary ran a plant with potential environmental liabilities. The client was concerned that it could be exposing its managers and officers to personal liability attributable to historic noncompliance and by virtue of the stock acquisition. Working closely with the client and its in-house legal and environmental groups, Sonnenschein created a strategy whereby the company could obtain the advantages of EPA audit policy, undertake substantial efforts toward achieving compliance before its managers took control, and obtained a ruling from the EPA absolving our client of liability for pre-closing activities of the acquired company. We used Sonnenschein’s proprietary Extranet capability, which allowed all consulting reports to be posted promptly and be viewed by the client’s control group remotely, saving numerous paper copies as well as electronic memory. This fully secure technology also enabled updates, such as discussions with EPA officials, to be posted regularly and issues to be resolved quickly.
Sonnenschein continues to represent Indian Tribes pursuing the economic betterment of tribal members. We represented the United Auburn Indian Community with respect to the environmental approvals necessary to construct a casino, Thunder Valley Casino in Placer County, California, and successfully defended those approvals in federal court in Washington, D.C. We represent other Tribes, including the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and the Jamul Indian Village in California as well as the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians in Michigan, as they pursue the environmental approval process necessary to build gaming facilities.
We serve as outside environmental counsel for The Presidio Trust, the Presidentially appointed federal agency with jurisdiction over the Presidio of San Francisco, the former army post at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge. Faced with a Congressional mandate to use the more than 500 historic buildings that exist on the site to achieve financial self-sufficiency within 15 years, Sonnenschein assisted the Trust in preparing its General Plan for the Presidio and with the accompanying Environmental Impact Statement. Despite considerable public controversy, the task was completed successfully without any lawsuit filed to challenge the plan.
We advised the Board of Education, School District No. 99, in Cicero, Ill., in connection with an innovative multi-million-dollar cleanup of a former industrial site and its re-use as a school. Working with the Board, we assisted in financing and completing the cleanup and were able to obtain assurances from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency that the cleanup was fully appropriate and no further action would be required at the site. We also assisted the Board with other counsel in resolving certain third-party claims associated with the cleanup cost, resulting in a multi-million-dollar settlement in the Board’s favor.
Representing TriStar Business Communities, L.L.C. and Park 370 Development, LLC in environmental litigation, we participated with attorneys from the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mills Corporation and others to defend a previously issued wetland permit from attack by the Missouri Coalition for the Environment. The U.S. District Court ruled on summary judgment that the Coalition’s claims were barred because the Coalition waited almost two years before filing suit to overturn the permit. The case was settled on appeal.
Sonnenschein successfully defended CITGO Petroleum Corporation against a multi-million-dollar utility administrative complaint to recover alleged undercharges for electric service to CITGO’s Lemont, Ill. refinery, one of the largest consumers of electricity in Illinois. Under the complaint, the utility was seeking to disavow a special contract rate offered to CITGO, under which the refinery had received discounted electric service for a five-year period. The utility asserted the rate charged was in error because CITGO had been reselling part of the discounted power received under the contract to a third party, located on the refinery premises, without the utility’s knowledge. We demonstrated conclusively the utility not only knew the third party would be receiving discounted power at the time of the contract’s formation, in a manner consistent with the utility’s tariffs, but further assisted CITGO in implementing the third-party transactions. Following a summary judgment ruling in CITGO’s favor, the case was dismissed.
In a multi-defendant Superfund cost recovery action brought to recover a portion of the costs associated with the clean-up of environmentally contaminated property, we defended ORIX Real Estate Equities, Inc. and won on its motion for summary judgment. The plaintiffs were a group of responsible persons potentially liable for the cleanup of the Yeoman Creek Landfill Superfund Site in Waukegan, Ill. The site was alleged to have been made up of four separate landfills. The plaintiffs contended that ORIX’s alleged corporate predecessor, a real estate management company, operated a landfill facility on property behind the shopping plaza it managed, and therefore was responsible for the cleanup of hazardous substances deposited into the so-called landfill during its tenure as property manager. The judge found the expert reports tendered by the plaintiffs were insufficient to establish a crucial element of a Superfund case; namely, that ORIX’s alleged corporate predecessor was responsible for the disposal of hazardous substances that had come to be located at the landfill while it was property manager, and therefore there was no genuine issue of fact for trial.
Our lawyers counseled the East Central Area Reliability Counsel (ECAR), one of the nation’s 10 regional electric reliability organizations, in connection with the joint U.S.-Canadian investigation into the massive East Coast blackout of 2003. Sonnenschein’s representation included advising ECAR on liability issues and helping ECAR’s management prepare testimony to be given before the U.S. Congress.
Our attorneys also serve as counsel to many energy companies, such as Nicor, that need lawyers with specialized knowledge of their business and industry.
