Brownfields Redevelopment
Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP lawyers assist current and former property owners and operators, investors, and real estate developers in transforming contaminated lands, mothballed properties, and historic or abandoned mining, dry cleaner, oil and gas, manufacturing, or other industrial/ commercial sites for economically productive and environmentally appropriate uses. Davis Graham attorneys are knowledgeable regarding all aspects of remediation and redevelopment of contaminated properties, including ever-changing cleanup standards, institutional controls, federal and state voluntary cleanup program requirements, eminent domain issues, Brownfields tax credits, financing vehicles, and risk management tools.
Our clients’ projects are located in urban and rural settings throughout the Rocky Mountain region. To make these projects a reality, we work with stakeholders, communities, and numerous federal, state, tribal, and local government agencies to realize our clients’ goals.
Davis Graham lawyers working in this area thoroughly understand the scientific and technical issues of contaminated sites. A number of our lawyers have scientific and technical education, and others have been educated through many years of diverse project experience. Our clients rely on us to supervise work performed by technical experts in fields ranging from geology and hydrogeology to vapor intrusion, risk assessment, and toxicology.
We are also experienced in various techniques to manage risks associated with brownfields redevelopment. We routinely assist clients in applying for and obtaining environmental insurance policies. We negotiate covenants not to sue and similar agreements with regulatory agencies. We routinely obtain no-action determinations from regulators. We are experienced with the implementation, monitoring, and enforcement of institutional controls. We know the government programs and other mechanisms to fund the remediation and redevelopment of these sites. For example, in a recent case of first impression, one of our lawyers helped a property owner secure a determination from the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (formerly Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission) to include an abandoned oil well in Colorado’s Orphan Well Program. This determination will facilitate the plugging of the well, a prerequisite to the redevelopment of the property.
