Firm Represents El Dorado County in Nationally Covered Regulatory Dispute Over Naturally Occurring Asbestos In May of 2005, the County of El Dorado was under major assault by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the ATSDR (the military branch of the Center for Disease Control), the State of California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control, and Air Resources Board for the exposure of naturally occurring asbestos in conjunction with several major homebuilders’ development of the El Dorado Hills, one of California’s fastest growing affluent communities. The federal and state activities resulted in major nationwide media coverage, including the country’s leading newspapers (Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee) and television network news programs (CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS). The County retained the Firm to develop and implement a response strategy. Events culminated in a formal Public Health Consultation Hearing held at a high school in the El Dorado Hills by the US EPA and ATSDR. Tal Finney and Tom Vandenburg appeared on behalf of the County at the hearing, which drew a crowd of over one thousand angry and concerned residents. The Firm successfully redirected the concern of the residents to the US EPA and ATSDR for failing to properly research the science of naturally occurring asbestos and the potential health risks. Since then, the Firm has successfully helped the County develop a public information, investigation, and enforcement program to protect its citizens from exposure to naturally occurring asbestos. The Firm successfully organized meetings and negotiations for the County with the highest levels of the US EPA, ATSDR, the United States Senate, and the White House, as naturally occurring asbestos increasingly becomes a major new area of potential liability across the country. Over 44 counties in California contain significant deposits of naturally occurring asbestos, as do several other states in America. Firm Assists a Major U.S. Aerospace and Defense Contracting Company in Obtaining Governor Schwarzenegger’s Veto Tal Finney, Chris Micheli, and Richard Dongell worked with our client, a major U.S. aerospace and defense contracting company, to obtain Governor Schwarzenegger’s veto of a bill pending in California that was designed to make it easier for the California Department of Health to adopt a more stringent maximum containment level for perchlorate. If passed, our client and others similarly situated would have been faced with a nearly impossible standard that would have ultimately increased the costs and substantially delayed the ultimate cleanup of sites currently impacted with perchlorate. Firm Wins a Major Regulatory Approval The Firm, through Tal Finney, Chris Micheli, Hillary Booth, and John Lawrence, assisted Single Stick, Inc., a major U.S. tobacco products manufacturer and distributor, in acquiring regulatory approval from the California Board of Equalization after challenges were made to the weight of its cigar products. The approval was achieved after almost a year of negotiations in the aftermath of a recall of the products by the Board of Equalization and the Department of Justice. Firm Successfully Advocates Against Proposed School Site in Industrial Area Adjacent to One Client and Preventing Exercise of Eminent Domain Against Another The Firm, led by Tal Finney and Richard Dongell, successfully prevented the development of a proposed high school along the Alameda Corridor, which would have resulted in the exercise of eminent domain against one client and the severe curtailment of business activities by another adjacent client. The rare decision in the Los Angeles Unified School District’s history will move the school site to a healthier environment for the students, while allowing several of the City of Los Angeles’ significant recycling companies to continue to provide their critically needed services. The Firm’s team worked very closely with our clients’ in-house expertise, state and local elected officials, the Los Angeles Unified School District staff and Board Members, and with state and local environmental regulators to achieve our clients’ desired result while also preventing students from being exposed to environmental and safety threats. Our advocacy involved several presentations at well-attended and contentious public siting hearings, extended appearances before the Los Angeles School Board, strategic political meetings, and legal advocacy with relevant regulatory authorities. Firm Successfully Resolves Service Dispute with Electrical Utility, Saving Our Client Over $250,000 Tal Finney led the Firm’s team in negotiating a revised electrical service infrastructure for our client’s new headquarters development. The successful advocacy involved negotiations with three public entities, the County of Los Angeles, the City of South Gate, and one of the nation’s largest public utilities. The new configuration not only resulted in significant savings to our client, but also resulted in a much more efficient electrical service infrastructure for the property.
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