Doug Arnold is co-chair of the firm’s Environment, Land Development, and Natural Resources Group. He has over 20 years of experience representing clients in environmental litigation, enforcement, and compliance matters. His practice focuses on Superfund (CERCLA), the Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Toxics Substances Control Act (TSCA), and Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), and he routinely handles matters involving U.S. EPA Region 4.
Mr. Arnold is listed in Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America, and The International Who's Who of Environmental Lawyers. He also has been named a Georgia "Super Lawyer" nine consecutive years and is one of only nine attorneys named statewide in the area of environmental litigation
Mr. Arnold is the immediate past co-chair of the ABA Environmental Litigation Committee. He also previously served as chair of the ABA Environmental Enforcement and Crimes Committee, as well as the Environmental Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia. Additionally, Mr. Arnold has published articles in BNA’s Toxics Law Reporter, Environmental Law360, The National Law Journal, Mealey’s Emerging Toxic Torts, and BNA’s Environmental Reporter. In 2011, he served on the Editorial Board for Environmental Law360.
- Won summary judgment on Atlantic Research grounds in a CERCLA cost recovery suit involving past and future cleanup costs exceeding $400 million. The 11th Circuit upheld the dismissal on appeal, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied a subsequent petition for certiorari.
- Successful pre-trial settlement of four lawsuits in Alabama and West Virginia against a Fortune 50 chemical manufacturer brought by 1,400 plaintiffs seeking damages for injuries allegedly caused by chemical exposures.
- Class-wide settlement for less than defense costs at pre-summary judgment stage of a putative class action seeking property damage for 36,000 claimants from alleged releases of lead and other pollutants from former foundry operations.
- Criminal declination for a corporate parent and two subsidiaries in connection with Clean Water Act violations at the client’s waste water treatment facility. Led the initial internal investigation into whistleblower allegations of illegal facility discharges and assisted the client with reporting results under EPA’s Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy. U.S. Department of Justice Environmental Crimes Section and U.S. EPA Criminal Investigative Division filed charges against the former facility manager and supervisor, but brought no charges against the client parent or subsidiaries.
- Defeated a class certification of personal injury claims involving alleged chemical exposures asserted by approximately 30,000 putative class members in Alabama, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Montana, and Colorado.
- Represented a national building products company in mass tort litigation involving 19 lawsuits and more than 1,300 plaintiffs alleging personal injuries caused by air and surface water emissions from former wood treatment operations. The chemicals of concern included dioxin, arsenic, creosote and chromium, which allegedly resulted in cancers, birth defects and other diseases. Successfully settled all claims in a two-day mediation following the close of fact discovery in the first four lawsuits.
- Obtained a criminal declination for a corporation and its subsidiary after a two-plus-year investigation in which the government sought a felony indictment and $4 million in fines for alleged RCRA violations from an alleged spill of 1.3 million gallons of hazardous chemicals. The federal agencies involved included the U.S. EPA Criminal Investigative Division, FBI, and U.S. Department of Justice Environmental Crimes Section.
- Defended a national appliance manufacturer in three lawsuits in San Francisco Superior Court for alleged perchloroethylene (PCE) contamination in soil and groundwater. The plaintiffs collectively sought $150 million in damages from nine defendant companies. Based on defense experts’ reports and testimony, resolved the claim in a pre-trial mediation for less than one percent of the damages sought.
- Has conducted internal corporate audits and investigations of client facilities in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia and helped clients develop environmental compliance strategies to mitigate their potential liability.
- Obtained a dismissal for a client on motion to dismiss grounds in a dioxin exposure case involving a former federal Superfund site in Arkansas.
- Summary judgment granted for a client in two related toxic tort suits in Maryland and Massachusetts involving alleged exposure to chlordane and other pesticides.
- Successful settlement of toxic tort lawsuit in Madison County, Illinois, prior to the start of discovery; the case involved claims by 300 plaintiffs against the client for personal injury and property damage from alleged exposure to manganese, lead, arsenic, and chromium from air emissions and surface water runoff from former mineral processing operations.
-
Alston & Bird recently helped its clients U.S. Pipe & Foundry Co. and Walter Energy defend their March 2012 appellate victory in Solutia, Inc., et al. v. McWane, Inc., et al., 672 F.3d 1230 (11th Cir. 2012) from potential review by the United States Supreme Court.
December 10, 2012
In the Press
-
One hundred and forty-seven Alston & Bird attorneys have been selected for inclusion in the 2013 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. The publication is universally regarded as among the few definitive guides to legal excellence, and its rankings are based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 36,000 leading attorneys cast almost 4.4 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas.
September 18, 2012
In the Press
-
June 7, 2012
In the Press
-
March 15, 2012
In the Press
-
September 12, 2011
In the Press
-
August 4, 2011
In the Press
-
July 5, 2011
In the Press
-
August 30, 2010
In the Press
-
June 11, 2010
In the Press
-
This advisory discusses a class settlement worth $93 million that the West Virginia state court approved, addressing alleged contamination and personal injury claims filed on behalf of nearly 25,000 people and more than 8,000 properties in Bibb v. Monsanto Co., Circuit Court of Putnam Cty. W. Va. (2004). This class action is just one of many related civil actions filed against Monsanto in connection with its former chemical plant in Nitro, West Virginia.
February 21, 2013
Advisories
-
"Enviro Cos., Beware Of More EPA Criminal Enforcement," Law360, February 14, 2013.
February 14, 2013
Publications
-
This advisory discusses U.S. v. John Emerson Tuma, a case in which the former general manager of Arkla Disposal Services was sentenced to 60 months in prison, plus a $100,000 fine, by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. The sentencing followed a jury conviction earlier this year for violations of the Clean Water Act, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
December 19, 2012
Advisories
-
"Challenging CERCLA Claims At The Pleading Stage," Law360, August 15, 2011.
August 15, 2011
Publications
-
"Closing Atlantic Research's Gap: CERCLA's Next Step," Environmental Law360, July 27, 2010.
July 27, 2010
-
December 2008
Publications
-
September 4, 2008
Advisories
-
June 12, 2008
Publications
-
April 2008
Publications
-
"Pollution in People: Is the Presence of Chemicals in Persons an Actionable Harm Without Injury or Disease?" New Jersey Law Journal, November 2, 2007.
November 2, 2007
-
October 15, 2007
Publications
-
October 8, 2007
Publications
-
December 2006
Publications
-
"Five Steps Every Corporate Officer Should Take to Keep the Company and Themselves Out of Criminal Hot Water," BNA Toxics Law Reports 321, March 2005.
March 2005
-
Winter 2003
-
Fall/Winter 2001
Past Events
-
January 22-24, 2009
Seminar