Clients
Industries
Energy, oil and gas, refining, chemical, manufacturing, defense, pipelines, real estate, private equity, and public entities.
Oil and gas
Onshore and offshore, across exploration and production, refining, pipelines and terminals, and marketing.
- Environmental due diligence on a $1.5 billion investment in Marcellus Shale properties
- Oil spill liability under the Oil Pollution Act, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Clean Water Act, and state law
- Biological and cultural resource issues on pipeline rights of way in Texas and North Dakota
- Seismic access disputes involving endangered species and wetlands
Refining, chemical, and petrochemical
- Air emissions permitting review and amendment across multiple states
- New source review, Prevention of Significant Deterioration, and major modification issues
- Environmental audits of refineries and chemical plants
- Permits by rule used to eliminate individual permits and reduce regulatory burden
Manufacturing
- Complex air emissions permitting, including hazardous air pollutants
- Compliance plans where existing permits have been exceeded
- Waste classification and RCRA generator status
- Endangered species issues arising from facility expansion
Defense contractors
- Endangered species under federal and state law, including facility expansion in the California desert
- Environmental compliance and permitting at manufacturing sites
Pipelines and terminals
- Air emissions permitting and enforcement
- Rights of way, biological and cultural resources
- Environmental diligence on interstate pipeline acquisitions
Energy developers and data centers
Solar, wind, storage, natural gas, transmission, and data centers — see Energy.
Municipalities and public entities
Cities, transportation authorities, hospital districts, and municipal utilities.
- Negotiated with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for a city transportation authority over storage tank liabilities on property acquired for electric rail right of way, resolving how liability attached across differing acquisition scenarios
- Represented a county hospital district acquiring industrial property for a hospital, structuring a multi-million-dollar indemnity and a purchase-price escrow for remediation, and carrying the property through the Texas Voluntary Cleanup Program to completion
- Served as lead negotiator for several cities in EPA wastewater enforcement actions, settling each administratively
- Advised a city and its municipal utility on agreements for rooftop solar on residential, commercial, and industrial buildings
- Represented homeowners, alongside one city, in a water rights permitting and enforcement matter against another city
Private equity, banks, and lenders
- Environmental diligence on acquisitions, portfolio companies, and lending
- Environmental provisions and indemnities in acquisition and loan documents
- Project finance for power generation, waste-to-energy, and infrastructure
- Property Assessed Clean Energy lending — tax equity strategy and loan documents
Real estate
- Contaminated property acquisition, sale, and redevelopment
- Brownfield projects and state cleanup program certificates
- Ground leases and site control for energy and data center projects
- Environmental insurance as a risk allocation tool
See also Environmental, Environmental Litigation, and Energy.
Questions clients ask
Does the firm represent cities and public entities?
Yes — transportation authorities, a county hospital district, cities in EPA wastewater enforcement, and a municipal utility on rooftop solar and energy storage strategy and agreements.
Is the practice limited to Texas?
No. The firm is based in Dallas and has worked on matters throughout the United States, including California, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, and North Dakota.
Does the firm take smaller companies as clients?
Yes. Clients range from Fortune 500 companies to startups, developers, and individual and family landowners, and the firm acts as outside general counsel for smaller companies.