Lawrence W. Diamond
Partner
Duane Morris LLP
One Riverfront Plaza
1037 Raymond Boulevard, Suite 1800
Newark, NJ 07102-5429
USA
Phone: +1 973 424 2012
Fax: +1 973 556 1566
Email: LWDiamond@duanemorris.com

New York Address
Duane Morris LLP
1540 Broadway
New York, NY 10036-4086
Phone: 212.692.1000
Fax: 212.692.1020

Lawrence W. Diamond practices in the areas of environmental law and litigation, including internal corporate investigations. His substantively and geographically diverse environmental practice, which extends over 35 years and across many states and federal districts, has encompassed the defense of numerous enforcement proceedings and ongoing advice to clients as to their rights and obligations relating to compliance and permitting issues as well as business transactions.

Mr. Diamond's strategic approach to each matter is always calculated with the client's business goals in mind. He has led and managed many client/counsel teams to successful resolutions of multifaceted problems, often in the face of potential exposures in the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars under, e.g., the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, CERCLA and state equivalents.

As chairman of the firm's Puerto Rico Practice Group, Mr. Diamond is admitted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico and has more than 30 years' experience representing clients on federal matters in Puerto Rico. He also is co-chair of the firm's Cuba Business Group, providing assistance to companies seeking to participate now in that emerging market under exemptions to the U.S. trade embargo or to prepare for participation once the embargo is lifted.

Mr. Diamond served in the Region II Office of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) for eight years. He completed his tenure at USEPA as Chief of the New York/Caribbean Superfund Branch.

Mr. Diamond is a former chair of the Environmental Law Section of the New Jersey Bar Association and is a member of the American Bar Association's Section of Environment, Energy and Resources, the New Jersey State and New York State bar associations and the New York County Lawyers Association. He has lectured and written on such topics as surviving government inspections, Clean Water Act permitting and enforcement, modifying Superfund remedies and compliance with EPA regulations covering ozone-depleting compounds. He is listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 editions.

Admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York, Mr. Diamond graduated from Brooklyn Law School and Colgate University.

Representative Matters

• Successful defense of multinational oil company alleged to have breached its lease by contaminating gas station property and delaying cleanup, thereby preventing re-development; legal fees were awarded, as well.
• Represented Fortune 5 company in the defense and favorable resolution of six federal Clean Water Act investigations and enforcement actions at six different facilities in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands involving allegations of hundreds of permit conditions, stormwater violations and unpermitted discharges.
• Represented former owner of a Massachusetts landfill in a dispute regarding whether appropriate notice pursuant to the agreement of sale was provided by the purchaser to trigger an obligation to share in the cost of cleanup. After more than a decade of litigation, culminating in a five-week trial, the court found in favor of our client, saving him between $20 and $25 million.
• Counsel to Puerto Rico energy company in resolving parallel proceedings in the aftermath of the release of 275,000 gallons of highly acidic wastewater into a wetlands area, causing environmental damage. The EPA initiated a massive administrative investigation that included an information request setting forth hundreds of questions. At the same time, three individual plant managers and the company were targets of the federal criminal investigation that could have resulted in numerous felony indictments under several environmental statutes. Following grand jury testimony, our internal investigation and DOJ/EPA/FBI interviews of approximately 30 company and expert witnesses conducted cooperatively and in the presence of counsel, the company pled to a single misdemeanor and no charges were levied against any of the individuals.
• Negotiated rescission of an EPA CERCLA Record of Decision that would have utilized innovative technology to treat mercury-contaminated soil that the client believed was unlikely to succeed and would have required the use of a significant portion of the world-wide supply of iodine. Persuaded EPA to approve excavation and disposal in a hazardous waste repository, reducing the cost of the remedy from an estimated $13.5 million to just over $3 million. The site was then delisted.
• Conducted an internal investigation precipitated by an EPA information request and an internal whistleblower complaint that the company was releasing methylene chloride in excess of air permit limitations and failing to correct the deficiencies. Subsequent actions defused the whistleblower's concerns and put the company on a compliance path that included reports to NJDEP of all exceedances and remedial steps being taken. No charges were brought.
• Represented Fortune 200 pharmaceutical company in response to the EPA issuance of a draft Part B RCRA permit containing overly stringent terms that would have required a large investment on the company's part and would have created overlapping and inconsistent responsibilities to EPA and the NJDEP. Working closely with company personnel, prepared and submitted comprehensive comments setting forth legal and technical arguments for retraction or modification of the terms of the draft permit. EPA never issued the permit, and the client proceeded to conduct the necessary cleanup solely under state authority.
• Conducted an extensive internal investigation for an international pharmaceutical company in connection with a "hot line" report that the company, due to its failure to properly maintain equipment, had intentionally released refrigerants containing ozone-depleting compounds in violation of EPA regulations, and had altered related records. After the whistleblower complained directly to EPA, EPA and DOJ initiated civil and criminal investigations. In exchange for being granted supervised access to company records and employee witnesses, the government did not seek grand jury testimony. Following months of interviews, the government terminated both investigations without bringing criminal charges or assessing civil or administrative penalties.
• Represented client in probation-revocation proceeding resulting from Clean Air Act opacity excursions. Working closely with the client's legal, technical and management personnel, assisted in the design of a monitoring and compliance program, including scrupulous maintenance protocols. The program, which was negotiated with DOJ, EPA and the state environmental agency, was incorporated into new requirements of probation. The client adhered to the program, and our motion for termination of probation was granted.
• Represented European water company that was sued, along with the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands, by a citizens group that alleged that the discharge from a wastewater treatment plant being built by the company would damage a coral reef. Negotiated a settlement whereby the company was dismissed from the case, with the Virgin Islands government assuming sole responsibility for implementing alternatives to assuage the citizens' concerns.
• Negotiated non-prosecution agreement for a Northeastern U.S. pipe manufacturer that was raided by federal and state agents on the basis of whistleblower allegations that it had illegally disposed of hazardous waste.
• Retained by a Fortune 10 company to supplement the efforts of its in-house and outside counsel to settle a New Jersey air toxics emissions case in which the EPA and DOJ had refused to reduce their penalty demand after more than two years of negotiation. Led the legal team in one meeting with the government, following which the case settled with a $600,000 penalty reduction.
• Counseled aggregate and building materials company with respect to air and water compliance issues at its quarries in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and New Jersey.
• Directed several internal investigations of reported excursions under the Clean Air Act involving hazardous air pollutants and opacity.
• Persuaded the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to rescind its enforcement Directive against the former owner of a Brownfields site in a dispute with NJDEP over responsibility for site cleanup.
• Counseled a specialty chemicals company regarding air toxics emissions and permitting issues following industrial accidents at its facilities in Ohio and New Jersey, one of which resulted in a fatality. The company committed to extensive changes in its operations and hired experienced personnel dedicated to maintaining compliance with environmental, health and safety requirements.
• Counseled a concrete manufacturer with respect to compliance with Pennsylvania stormwater and solid waste regulations.
• Common counsel to a PRP group at a Pennsylvania Superfund site. EPA's proposed plan to remediate the site included a $7.5 million groundwater remedy. Led negotiations that yielded total elimination of the groundwater component of the remedy.
• Represented university in purchase of contaminated property in San Diego.
• Counsel to international industrial gases company in litigation seeking cleanup costs and natural resource damages involving hundreds of companies alleged to have released hazardous substances into a river basin.
• Represented Fortune 5 company in connection with cleanup issues at several Pennsylvania facilities.
• Represented electronics parts manufacturer in regard to hazardous waste issues in Puerto Rico, including the island of Vieques.
• Settled Superfund case for Puerto Rico pharmaceutical company alleged to have discharged pesticides into a waterway.
• Counseled one of the nation's largest recycling companies in regard to state and federal allegations that the company violated hazardous waste regulations in Virginia and New Jersey.
• Represented Fortune 200 consumer products company in New Jersey and Puerto Rico, settling government enforcement actions alleging thousands of violations of the Clean Water Act. In each instance, penalty assessments were reduced from tens of millions to less than $500,000.
• Represented oil refinery in regard to federal toxics reporting obligations that had been overlooked. We self-reported the violations to EPA, and no penalties were incurred.
• Supported numerous business and real estate transactions.

Professional Activities

• American Bar Association
  - Section of Environment, Energy and Resources
• New Jersey State Bar Association
  - Environmental Law Section
  -- Chairman, 1995-1996
  -- Officer and Director, 1992-1996
• New York State Bar Association
  - Environmental Law Section
• New York County Lawyers Association

Admissions

• New York
• New Jersey
• U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico
• U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
• Supreme Court of New Jersey
• Supreme Court of New York

Education

• Brooklyn Law School, J.D., 1978
• Colgate University, B.A., 1971

Experience

• Duane Morris LLP
  - Partner, 1999-present
• Hannoch Weisman. P.C., Roseland, New Jersey
  - Partner, 1989-1999
  - Associate, 1986-1989
• United States Environmental Protection Agency
  - Chief, New York/Caribbean Superfund Branch, 1984-1986
  - Assistant Regional Counsel, Enforcement Division, 1978-1984

Honors and Awards

• Listed in Best Lawyers in America, 2009-2012
• Listed in New Jersey Super Lawyers, 2008-2013
• Listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 editions