Environmental Litigation
JUSTICE FOR ORDINARY PEOPLE
Environmental Litigation Attorneys
With over 75 years of collective experience, Singleton Schreiber’s Environmental Litigation Group brings together accomplished attorneys from varied backgrounds who have counseled public entities and private clients impacted by devastating environmental disasters and litigated some of the country’s largest wildfire, mudslide, and water contamination lawsuits. Whether representing public entities impacted by wildfires; water contamination on military bases; or businesses and homeowners facing a complete rebuild after a wildfire, the Singleton Schreiber Environmental Litigation Group is well-equipped to maximize recovery for its clients.
Types of Environmental Impacts and Disasters
Year after year, large corporations, utilities, and oil companies violate environmental laws and put the health and safety of millions at risk. Whether oil spills, natural gas leaks, wildfires, chemical exposure or some other hazard, individuals, small businesses, and homeowners are constantly barraged with harmful and toxic substances.
Forever Chemical Litigation
People in all walks of life are being exposed to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) through their drinking water, working with machines, and even acting as first-responders. Individuals living on military installations throughout the United States have been exposed to water contaminated by PFAS, as have firefighters working with fire suppression foam. Studies have also found that people living in cities and towns with large manufacturing hubs are also regularly exposed to these harmful chemicals.
PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” are man-made chemicals that include PFOA and PFOS. They’ve been used for more than 80 years in the United States, and despite efforts to phase them out, they continue to live in water sources and in living organisms for years.
PFAS have been found in everything from food sources to household polishes to animals in the wild.
Ongoing PFAS Litigation
Litigation for water contamination and other injuries caused by PFAS through Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) has been consolidated in a multi-district litigation (MDL) in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, presided over by Judge Richard M. Gergel (Case No. MDL 2873). Presently there are over 2,000 cases consolidated in the MDL, compromised of individual plaintiffs alleging personal harm and entities seeking damages for cleanup costs and other harm. More than 40 Defendants have been sued in connection with the AFFF litigation to ensure they will be held accountable for the harm they caused.
PFAS Health Risks
Studies have found that PFAS exposure can cause a variety of health issues in adults, children and even the unborn. These include:
- Lower infant birth weights
- Liver and kidney effects
- Reproductive and developmental impacts
- Thyroid disruption
- Immunological effects
- Higher cholesterol levels
Due at least in part to exposure to fire suppressant foam, studies have found firefighters are at an increased risk of cancer, including the following types of cancer:
- Bladder
- Breast
- Kidney
- Leukemia
- Lymphoma
- Neuroendocrine tumors
- Pancreatic
- Prostate
- Testicular
Singleton Schreiber’s Environmental Team
Few law firms can boast the significant level of experience with environmental disasters as Singleton Schreiber. With a team comprised of top-notch attorneys, many of whom have worked at public agencies with in-depth knowledge of environmental investigations and high-profile matters, the firm is uniquely equipped to handle these types of complex matters. In addition, the firm represents thousands of individuals in mass tort and MDL matters, some of the most complex cases to litigate.
Managing Partner Jerry Singleton has tried dozens of cases, settled thousands more, and built a firm that has recovered more than $2 billion for its clients. The Singleton Schreiber team has handled water contamination cases involving CERCLA, RCRA, the Clean Water Act, and numerous state environmental laws over the past 20 years.
The firm’s roster of environmental litigation attorneys reads like an all-star team of attorneys who fight hard for individuals, businesses, and municipalities hit hard by man-made environmental disasters.
Partner Britt Strottman, a former Deputy City Attorney in San Francisco, represented the City of San Bruno as lead counsel against one of the largest utilities in the county for a natural gas pipeline explosion that killed 8 people and destroyed over 40 homes. Britt’s advocacy led to a record-setting $1.6 billion fine against PG&E, a $70 million settlement to establish a nonprofit for the San Bruno community, the indictment of PG&E on felony criminal charges, exposed claims of political corruption at the California Public Utilities Commission, and multiple state and federal investigations of PG&E and its regulator.
Partners Chris Rodriguez and Andrew Bluth have litigation and trial experience with the transportation, oil refinery and utility industries, including obtaining a $55 million jury verdict arising out of the construction of a combined-cycle power plant in Sacramento County.
Singleton Schreiber’s Environmental Litigation Group currently represents thousands of individuals and entities in connection with environmental mass tort matters, including the pending PFAS litigation, and individuals harmed by toxic water at the Camp Lejeune military base in North Carolina.
If you or someone you love has suffered any type of loss over an environmental disaster, or if you’ve suffered because of PFAS exposure, contact our litigation team today and put us to work for you.
