Environmental Litigation

From Three Mile Island to the Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil spill, K&W is one of the nation’s leading firms for forcing polluters to internalize the cost of their harms to people, communities, businesses and the public trust. K&W has achieved an unmatched record in navigating complex and dynamic environmental laws and regulations. Our national client base includes state governments, Native American tribes, labor unions, major corporations, developers, banks, small businesses, and property owners, who have turned to K&W for unparalleled expertise in environmental litigation.

Our litigation practice has involved successful claims for recovery of compensation for environmental contamination and damage to both persons and property. The firm is renowned for its pursuit of various causes of action, including trespass, strict liability, unjust enrichment, and parens patriae, as well as for violations of federal and state environmental statutes. These actions have taken the form of class, multiple party, government, and individual plaintiff proceedings against a multitude of corporations, including ExxonMobil, British Petroleum, Shell, Texaco, ConocoPhillips, and Amoco.

Allan Kanner has written dozens of articles in the field of environmental law and authored a book, Environmental and Toxic Tort Trials. He is considered one of the nation’s top legal experts in this complex field and taught Tulane Law School’s Toxic Tort class for several years.

Representative Cases:

• Conservation Law Foundation Inc. v. Shell Oil Products US, et al., No. 1:21-cv-00933 (D. Conn. 2021) (Lawsuit against Shell for failure to protect local communities from climate change risk at its New Haven Terminal, including violations of the CWA and RCRA).
• Conservation Law Foundation Inc. v. Pike Fuels Limited Partnership, No. 3:21-cv-00932 (D. Conn. 2021) (Lawsuit against Pike Fuels for failure to protect local communities from climate change risk at its New Haven Terminal, including violations of the CWA and RCRA).
• N. J. Dep’t of Envtl. Prot., et al. v. Honeywell International, Inc., No. BER-L-006867-20 (N.J. Super.  Ct. Law Div. 2020) (Representing the State of New Jersey for natural resource damages related to what is typically referred to as the Quanta Resources Site in Edgewater, New Jersey).
• N. J. Dep’t of Envtl. Prot. v. Hess Corp., f/k/a Amerada Hess Corp., & Buckeye Partners, L.P., No. MID-L-004579-18 (N.J. Super. Ct. Law Div. 2018) (Representing the State of New Jersey to recover for natural resource damages at the former Hess refinery in Woodbridge, New Jersey).
• State of New Mexico, et al. v. United States, et al., Case No. 2:18-cv-2873-RMG (D.N.M. 2018) (Leading litigation against the United States regarding PFAS contamination at five military bases in New Mexico, including two that are known to be severely contaminated with the toxic “forever chemicals”).
• Conservation Law Foundation Inc. v. Shell Oil Products US, et al., No. 1:17-cv-00396 (D.R.I. 2017) (Lawsuit against Shell for failure to protect local communities from climate change risk at its Providence Terminal, including violations of the CWA and RCRA).
• Conservation Law Foundation Inc. v. ExxonMobil Corporation, et al. (Everett), No. 1:16-cv-11950-MLW (D. Mass. 2016) (Historic lawsuit against Exxon for failure to protect local communities from climate change risk at its Everett Terminal near Boston, including violations of the CWA and RCRA).
• Philip Roeder, et al. v. Atlantic Richfield Co. and BP America, Inc., No. 11-105 (D. Nev. 2011) (Co–lead counsel, approx. $19 million class settlement in 2013).
• In re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig “Deepwater Horizon” in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20, 2010, MDL No. 2179 (E.D. La. 2010) (Lead counsel for State of Louisiana in the largest natural resource damage settlement (2015) in history with largest share (approx. $10 billion) to the State of Louisiana).
• N.J. Dep’t of Envtl. Prot. v. ExxonMobil Corporation, No. UNN-L-3026-04 c/w No. UNN-L-1650-05 (N.J. Super. Law Div. 2004) (Representing the State of New Jersey to recover for natural resource damages at the site of two former refineries under the New Jersey’s Spill Act and common law theories including nuisance).
• Janes v. CIBA-GEIGY Corp., No. L-1669-01 Mass Tort 248 (N.J. Super. Law Div. 2001) ($20 million settlement on behalf of property owner class affected by the seepage of volatile organic compounds from chemical wastes stored on the property in Toms River Township, New Jersey).
• Samples v. Conoco, Inc., No. 01-631 (Fla. 1 JDC 2001) ($65 million settlement on behalf of property owner class affected by ground and surface water pollution as a result of fertilizer and wood treatment processing).
• City of Independence, et al. v. Amoco Oil Co., No. 95-0019 c/w Christopher Petrovic, et al. v. Amoco Oil Co., No. 95-0121 (W.D. Mo. 1995) (Co-lead counsel representing the City of Independence and a class of property owners for environmental contamination claims against Amoco Oil).

Natural Resource Damages Publications:

• Kanner, Tortious Interference With The Public Trust, 36 J. Env’t Law and Litigation p. 101 (2021).
• Kanner, Climate Justice and Public Trust, 66 Loyola Law Review 445 (Summer 2020).
• Kanner, Expertise and Discretion: New Jersey’s Approach to Natural Resource Damages, 50 ELR 10030 (January 2020).
• Kanner, Environmental Gatekeepers: Natural Resource Trustee Assessments and Frivolous Daubert Challenges, 49 E.L.R. 10420 (May 2019).
• Kanner & Reilly, Like A Phoenix Rising From the Ashes: Melding Wildfire Law Into A Comprehensive Statute, 33 Envtl. L. & Lit. 47 (2018).
• Kanner, More Than Seals and Sea Otters: OPA Causation and Moratorium Damages, 28 Duke L. & Pol’y F. 31 (Fall 2017).
• Kanner, Emerging Trends in Perflourinated Chemical Regulation and Litigation, ABA Environmental and Energy Litigation Newsletter, (August 28, 2017).
• Kanner, Emerging Trends in Unregulated Contaminant Litigation: PFCs, Abstract, 37th International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants – DIOXIN 2017. 37th International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), Vancouver, Canada (August 2017).
• Kanner, Issues Trustees Face in Natural Resource Damage Assessments, Part II, Journal Of Environmental Protection (April 2017).
• Kanner, Issues Trustees Face in Natural Resource Damage Assessments, Part I, Journal Of Environmental Protection (April 2017).
• Kanner, Petersen, & Brouk, Federal Environmental Laws Require Hardening Against Climate Change, I, ABA Environmental And Energy Litigation Newsletter NO. 1 (Nov. 2016).
• Kanner, Which Came First, the Incident or the Oil: The Moratorium and OPA Causation, I, Environmental and Energy Litigation Newsletter, Issue NO. 1 (Nov. 2016).
• Kanner, Experts in Natural Resource Damages and Toxic Tort Litigation, Proceedings of the International Network of Environmental Forensic Conference, Journal of Environmental Protection (2015).
• Kanner, Natural Resource Restoration, 28 Envt. L.J. 355 (Summer 2015).
• Kanner & Morrison, Environmental Forensics and Natural Resource Damages, Environmental Forensics (2012).
• Kanner, Evidence and Expert Witnesses in Environmental Forensic Cases, 11, Methods In Environmental Forensics, (Stephen M. Mudge) (2008).
• Kanner, Strategy and Storytelling in Environmental Litigation, ABA Environmental Litigation Committee Newsletter (Winter/Spring 2007).
• Kanner, Meeting the Burden for Admissibility of Environmental Forensic Testimony, 8 Environmental Forensics 1 (Mar. 2007).
• Kanner & Ziegler, Understanding and Protecting Natural Resources, 17 Duke L. & Pol’y F. 119 (Fall 2006).
• Kanner, Unjust Enrichment In Environmental Litigation, 20 of Envtl. L. & Lit. 111 (Spring 2005).
• Kanner, The Public Trust Doctrine, Parens Patriae, and the Attorney General As the Guardian of the State’s Natural Resources, 16 Duke Envtl. L. & Pol’y F. 57 (Fall 2005).
• Kanner & Nagy, Measuring Loss of Use Damages in Natural Resource Damage Actions, 30 J. Envtl. L. 417 (2005).
• Kanner, Tribal Sovereignty and Natural Resource Damages, 25 Land & Resources L. Rev. 93 (Spring 2004).
• Kanner & Nagy, The Use of Contingent Fees in Natural Resource Damage and Other Parens Patriae Cases, 19 Bna Toxics Law Reporter 32 (Aug. 12, 2004).
• Kanner & Nagy, Crocodile Tears: Polluters’ Concerns about Contingency Fees in NRD Cases, ABA Environmental Litigation Committee Newsletter (Fall/Winter 2004).
• Kanner, Casey & Ristroph, New Opportunities for Native American Tribes to Pursue Environmental and Natural Resource Claims, 1 Duke Envtl. L. & Pol’y 155 (Fall 2003).
• Kanner, Rebuilding America, 20 NAEP News 17 (Nov./Dec. 1995).
• Kanner, Rethinking Superfund, 20 NAEP News 19 (1995).