Overturning Massachusetts DEP’s Decision to Levy Fines

Our client was a light industrial company that, due to the nature of its work, stored several types of liquid and chemical waste on its property for later disposal. A fire damaged a large portion of the company building where the chemicals were stored. It was determined to be an accidental fire; however, the fire caused several containers of chemicals to explode, leading to contamination of the company’s land. The Massachusetts DEP investigated the chemical runoff from the fire and alleged that the chemicals had permeated public land and waterways at levels above allowable concentrations. Our investigation of surrounding industrial sources of pollution, our site inspections, and soil and water samples performed by an expert LSP enabled us to write a comprehensive response report to the DEP showing that the chemical pollution was confined to the company’s property and had likely never contaminated public soil or waterways. With our report and negotiations with the DEP, the agency dismissed the Notice of Responsibility against our client, thereby saving our client thousands of dollars in fines.