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On behalf of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), we drafted a “Green Economy Law” for the Ministry of Economy and Budget Planning in Kazakhstan, which involved an assessment of Kazakhstan’s existing laws in a variety of sectors (including the Environmental Code, the Water Code, the Electricity Law, the Renewable Energy Law, the Tax Code and the Administrative Offences Code), as compared to international best practices for “green principles.” Pierce Atwood and its local lawyers in Astana and Almaty participated in meetings with stakeholders, and then proceeded to develop amendments to 22 laws and their related sub-acts. The final Green Economy Law will introduce green economy principles into Kazakhstan’s legislative framework, based on models taken from countries that are leaders in “green economy” best practices in environmental management, including water usage, waste disposal and management, air emissions, and energy efficiency.
Represented Pine Tree Landfill in obtaining necessary permits for construction and operation of 5 MW landfill gas-to-energy facility.
For over three decades, Pierce Atwood has represented virtually all of Maine’s pulp and paper companies in the licensing, relicensing, and expansion of their respective solid waste landfills, which are dedicated to the disposal of the solid and special wastes generated at each mill that cannot otherwise be reduced, recycled, or composted.
Pierce Atwood assisted a major pulp and paper company in successfully licensing two new tissue machines, which are now under construction.
Represented large land owner on environmental and land use issues associated with a long-term lease for a large wind power project in northern Maine. This matter also involved significant coordination with our Real Estate Department.
Maine Beer Co. has grown from a small “nano” brewery producing 100 barrels of beer a year to a thriving microbrewery producing over 4000 barrels a year. To support the surge in production they expanded their staff from two to 12 full-time people and moved into a brand new 11,000 square foot production facility. As the company has grown so have its legal needs and Pierce Atwood has been there to help.
MoreDefended former owner of facility against state court action involving cost-recovery claims, toxic tort claims, and diminution in value claims, alleging damages running to millions of dollars.
Successfully represented several large manufacturing facilities that underwent extensive PSD/NSR and Refrigerant (CFC, HCFC) compliance reviews by EPA. These reviews began with EPA information requests seeking large amount of information, in some cases dating back to the 1970s, with respect to virtually every capital project at the facilities and detailed review of compliance with Maine’s EPA-approved State Implementation Plan regulations and EPA’s New Source Performance Standards.
Representation of Mercy Hospital in all real estate and transactional aspects, including financing, for the acquisition and development of a major new hospital campus project along the Fore River in Portland, Maine. This project required the assemblage of multiple parcels, negotiating easements and crossings with the Portland Terminal Company railroad, the negotiation with the City of Portland for a special contract zone to accommodate the development, negotiating with the State of Maine DOT for the construction of a new access road connecting I-295 and the riverfront, working with various community groups, such as Portland Trails, to reach a community consensus on the project and incorporating community issues into the project, working with the DEP on wetland remediation and natural wildlife concerns and clearing ancient claims of title and relocation of public roads.
Assisted in cleanup, redevelopment, and permitting of a former paper mill on a 40-acre river site into a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Brewer, Maine, which is now constructing large-scale, high-tech building components for industrial facilities and shipping them via ocean barging. The firm addressed state and local environmental and land use permitting and real estate issues, including issues arising from historic contamination, negotiated numerous environmental and real estate concerns with interested parties, and facilitated the Voluntary Response Action Plan issued by the Maine DEP.
Pierce Atwood serves as national coordinating counsel on all environmental matters for a pulp and paper company with operations in New England, the Midwest, and the Mid-Atlantic. This role involves providing regular advice and counsel on issues such as compliance strategies for air emissions regulations, such as boiler MACT and BART, managing a potential river re-designation that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars in compliance costs, permitting a secure vault for storage of hazardous waste, and advising the company on day-to-day operations issues about issues ranging from management of contaminated soils to stormwater compliance. In this capacity, we work closely with company lawyers, corporate environmental staff, and environmental staff from each individual mill, as well as local counsel in various jurisdictions.
Since 2017, Pierce Atwood has represented Avangrid Networks, Inc. and its affiliates CMP and NECEC Transmission LLC on all aspects of the development of the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC), a $1 billion, 147-mile high-voltage direct current transmission line that will interconnect the New England transmission system with the Hydro-Quebec (HQ) transmission system at the Canadian border in western Maine. The NECEC will deliver 1,200 MW of hydropower generated by Hydro-Quebec to the New England grid around the clock for at least 40 years. As found by the Maine PUC, this project promises to reduce the cost of electricity in Maine and New England by tens of millions of dollars each year, increase the reliability of the New England electric grid, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 3.0-3.6 million metric tons annually (the equivalent of removing 700,000 cars from the road).
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