Environmental Contract and Nuisance Claims

Many environmental claims between current and former property owners turn on the contractual releases and indemnifications set forth in the agreements between the parties. We have represented numerous clients asserting and defending these types of contractual claims, whether the contract contemplated environmental issues at the property or not, and even where the contract pre-dates the various environmental statutes and therefore the claims now triggering the environmental liability. These cases often involve multiple parties and issues concerning successive ownership and changes in legal requirements and standards of care. Our litigators are well suited to assert and defend environmental claims that turn on the meaning and effect of complex business transactions because our firm also represents numerous clients in the purchase, sale, and development of environmentally impaired properties.

Common law nuisance claims are routinely asserted in nearly every lawsuit seeking damages or injunctive relief associated with alleged environmental contamination, whether these claims are asserted by private parties or the government. Many of the natural resource damages cases brought by the State of New Jersey include nuisance counts. In addition to asserting and defending against these types of nuisance claims, we have also seen nuisance claims used in litigation by citizens groups, municipalities, and others seeking to shut down our clients' ongoing operations. For example, the firm defended a large corporation in a series of lawsuits filed in Pennsylvania's state courts by residents and a few local businesses alleging nuisances associated with our client's operations. One of these cases against our client was filed as a putative class action. The often complicated law of environmental nuisance claims is an increasingly common part of environmental litigation. Our litigators have the experience and knowledge to deal with these evolving theories.