Archives: Incident Response

Environment, Health & Safety incident response

Senate Environment & Public Works Committee votes unanimously to approve Dr. Katherine Lemos to head the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board

By Ben H. Patton, Jessica I. Wilson and Carrie Gorner on 30 September 2019 Posted in Incident Response, Regulatory Compliance

On September 25, 2019, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) voted unanimously to approve Dr. Katherine A. Lemos, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB). Dr. Lemos’ nomination will now advance to the full Senate for confirmation.… Continue Reading

Important questions left unanswered as rare ECJ case rules that debris from a fire on board a ship is excluded from international shipment of waste rules

By Nicholas Rock, Adam Hedley, Jennifer Travers and Jake Williams on 13 June 2019 Posted in Enforcement and Litigation, Incident Response

This blog post provides a brief commentary on the transboundary movement of waste case of Conti 11 v. the Land of Lower Saxony, Germany (Case C689-17). The law on the international shipment of waste is of increasing importance to many global businesses. The Reed Smith Environmental, Health & Safety team regularly handles cases on this subject involving … Continue Reading

Broader focus on environmental and safety crimes as Harris County announces new charges against Arkema

By Ben H. Patton, Todd O. Maiden, Mary M. Balaster and Jessica I. Wilson on 3 June 2019 Posted in Enforcement and Litigation, Incident Response

Following last year’s indictments of Arkema Inc. (Arkema) CEO Richard Rowe and plant manager Leslie Comardelle, a Texas grand jury recently indicted Mike Keough, Arkema’s Vice President of Logistics, in connection with allegations that Arkema failed to provide adequate emergency response information to response officials. Along with this indictment, recent charges against Intercontinental Terminals Company … Continue Reading