Beveridge & Diamond helps organizations tackle any type of environmental crisis or incident—before, during, and after it occurs.
We provide quick, solid, thoughtful, organized, and strategic support to help our clients effectively and proactively manage crises and demonstrate strong corporate citizenship. Our goal is always to help companies prevent incidents from occurring, mitigate risk, and avoid litigation. However, when needed, our team is well-versed in providing crisis management response early in the incident, protecting clients’ legal interests during the incident management and investigation phase, defending organizations in enforcement actions and litigation, directing and managing independent environmental, health, and safety (EHS) audits, and conducting internal compliance investigations.
We advise entities across industry sectors on incidents including air releases and flaring events, fires and explosions, natural disasters, spills and other types of unpermitted discharges, drinking water contamination, and worker safety incidents.
Our depth and breadth of experience in EHS law and litigation allow us to bring cross-cutting knowledge of regulations (including CERCLA, EPCRA, OSHA, CWA, CAA, and RCRA) and reporting authorities to respond quickly in environmental crises. Our emergency-tested team includes former federal and state government officials; former in-house counsel; lawyers with scientific degrees; and lawyers with experience coordinating with technical consultants and communications and PR professionals to accurately inform regulators and stakeholders and correct misinformation. Furthermore, we offer a deep bench of EHS regulatory specialists conversant in all relevant regulatory programs complemented by more than 50 litigators who focus on criminal and civil environmental and toxic tort actions, citizen suits, complex multi-district litigation, and class and mass tort actions.
We have developed resources such as a digital Crisis Response Go Bag that provides a list of items to consider before, during, and after an incident has occurred, as well as a Preparation Checklist for Civil Regulatory Inspections that can come in handy for clients anticipating an agency inspection. Contact us to request a copy.
Services
Before a Crisis or Incident
- Internal trainings
- Environmental management system (EMS) design, reviews, and audits
- Gap analyses
- Insurance due diligence
- Document management protocols - development and review
- Facility inspection preparation
- Permit approvals
- Scenario planning and drills
- Advice on facility emergency planning requirements
- Development of reporting and compliance protocols
- Comments on proposed regulations, such as those that have increased TRI reporting burdens
During a Crisis or Incident
- Emergency response reporting:
- Facility emergency planning requirements
- Release reporting requirements
- Chemical inventory reporting
- Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) reporting
- Section 311 submissions
- Tier II reports
- Form R submissions
- Review of crisis communications, PR
- Insurance notification
- Document retention
- Agency interface, including response to information requests
After a Crisis or Incident
- After action reviews, root cause analyses (e.g., under the Risk Management Plan Rule)
- Internal investigations, employee interviews
- Government inspection preparation
- Review of external communications and public relations initiatives
- Agency reporting (EPA, DOI, DOT, DOJ, OSHA, PHMSA)
- Insurance reporting
- Liability mitigation, litigation avoidance
- Litigation Defense against government or private party claims (tort, citizen suit)
- Develop and pursue potential affirmative claims for damage or contribution
- Voluntary disclosures of past reporting violations (e.g., under EPA’s Audit Policy)
- Implementation of remedial actions
