Steven H. Goldberg

Partner

621 Capitol Mall
18th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814

Areas of Law:

Environmental, Environmental Litigation, Environmental Compliance

Admitted to Practice in:

California

SUMMARY

Steven Goldberg has served as one of the leading go-to environmental litigation and compliance attorneys in California for more than twenty years.

A strategic communicator who is known as a smart, tenacious litigator and responsive advocate with exceptional relational skills, Steve negotiates and resolves complex disputes, often serving as liaison counsel for multiple-party lawsuits. CERCLA matters are a special area of focus.

Steve’s clients include Fortune 500 corporations with business interests in California and other regionally based publicly traded companies. He successfully represents and defends multi-million dollar actions, which include government enforcement, cost recovery claims, allocation litigation, toxic tort actions and multi-party contamination matters.

EXPERTISE

• Actions involving chemical and petroleum facilities, forest products and agribusiness companies, owners of large tracts of land, landfill and waste management companies, defense contractors, energy industry facilities, dry cleaners and public entities.
• Regulatory requirements and compliance to include the National Contingency Plan and the investigation and remediation of contaminated sites.
• Negotiations with federal, state and local agencies on orders, schedules and compliance, including state and federal Superfund sites.
• Representation in dozens of environmental litigation matters in the United States District Courts (San Diego, Los Angeles, Riverside, Fresno, Sacramento, San Francisco), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and California state courts.
• Strategy to eliminate or limit liabilities that include toxic tort actions or multiparty litigation involving other owners, dischargers, and operators. 
• Defense of toxic tort actions involving benzene and pesticide exposures.
• Strategic communications and community relations.

Complex contaminant experience to include sediments, perchlorate, petroleum components, dioxins, metals, asbestos, PCBs, wood treatment chemicals and solvents

HIGHLIGHTS

• Garnered substantial savings for clients via the successful negotiation/ mediation of cost recovery claims by the State of California and the Environmental Protection Agency.
• Won a technical impracticability waiver that reduced the client’s cost of the U.S. EPA's proposed clean up by millions of dollars. 
• Multi-million dollar recovery of client clean up costs by pursuing allocation of costs to other potentially responsible parties.
• Substantial transaction costs savings through streamlined discovery and accelerated settlement negotiations.

EXPERIENCE

Environmental Litigation

San Diego Harbor Litigation and Sediment Remediation:

Regulatory and litigation counsel to a shipyard in a multi-million dollar parallel administrative and federal court proceedings, including cost recovery and allocation litigation. The administrative proceedings involve a Tentative Clean Up and Abatement Order (TCAO) for the largest proposed sediment remediation project in the San Diego Bay, and the first site where the Regional Board required an EIR.

Bulk Oil Storage Tank Site Litigation: 

Defense of a US District Court action claiming over $250 million in damages involving one of the largest petroleum storage, transport and distribution facilities in southern California. The action includes the defense of claims of loss of water resources and alleged lost use of redevelopment and lost profits.  

Perchlorate Contamination, San Bernadino County:

Lead environmental counsel for a fireworks company at a U.S. EPA Superfund site involving perchlorate and solvent contamination. Multiple court actions are pending in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California involving 25 potentially responsible parties and alleged clean up costs of up to $100 million. Further appeals have been taken to the Ninth Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court.

Dry Cleaning Facilities:

Defense of property owners and public entities at numerous sites with contamination from dry cleaning facilities.

Landfills:

Lead environmental counsel for publicly traded waste management company in defending a state court action regarding closure of a landfill in Northern California including writs before the Courts of Appeal.

Representation of landowners with successful mediation of a multimillion dollar cost recovery litigation action against landfill owners and operators for contamination of groundwater.

Defense and trial of cost recovery action at state superfund wood treatment facility and landfill (Louisiana Pacific v. Diamond Lands Corp. (USDC E.D. of California)

Defense of a multimillion dollar cost recovery claim in United States District Court for the Southern District of California and related regulatory proceedings concerning a landfill in Imperial County.

600-Acre Soil and Groundwater Contamination Site:

Defense of responsible party in cost recovery litigation at a multi-party complex soil and groundwater contamination site.

Environmental Remediation & Compliance 

Forest Products Company, Superfund Site: 

Represented a forest products company, which owned 900 acres at and adjacent to the J.H. Baxter Superfund Site. Handled administrative proceedings and negotiations on allocation issues and negotiated with EPA Region IX concerning the RI/FS, and the Record of Decision.

Resolved various over-filing issues with the State of California, including permit issues that arose during the implementation of the remedy with the Regional Water Quality Control Board.  Obtained a technical impracticability waiver from EPA that substantially limited the scope of the remedy and reduced costs.

With the support of a public relations firm successfully resolved EPA's multi-million dollar claim for past costs in the first mediation with EPA Region IX.

Oil Recycling Site, Stanislaus County:

Successfully completed a multi-million dollar removal action at an abandoned used oil recycling facility under a Unilateral Administrative Order issued by the EPA. Met all removal deadlines, and managed NCP compliance and community relations with the EPA.

Identified hundreds of additional responsible parties (including federal agencies) and allocated millions of gallons of waste volume not previously identified by the EPA. Substantially expanded the parties named to the Order, collected millions of dollars from other PRPs, cleaned up the site, and negotiated a final settlement with EPA on behalf of all settling PRPs.

Major Oil Company, Bulk Oil Terminals, Pipelines, Refineries:

West Coast environmental counsel for major oil company for retail projects involving bulk oil terminals, pipelines, refineries and distribution facilities, including Superfund, cost recovery, ADR and related litigation.

Bulk Oil Storage Facility, Portland Harbor:

Handled upland issues at large bulk oil storage facility in Portland Harbor including agreements with Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. 

Bulk Oil Storage Terminals Site, Yolo County:

Multi-party investigation and remediation of Petroleum components MTBE (additive), and BTEX in soil and groundwater at a large bulk oil storage terminals and service station sites in West Sacramento, California.

Assembled a team of technical and public relations experts to advise the client on regulatory compliance, UST Fund issues, community relations and remediation strategies, including soil vapor extraction, oxygen injection and pump and treat technologies.

Successfully negotiated a cash-out agreement for the client with another PRP that includes a remediation management agreement for a service station site that had commingled with the terminal plumes. Developed one of the first Public Participation Plans approved by the Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Sanitation District, Central Valley City & Northern California County:

Lead attorney for Central Valley city and Northern California County and Sanitation District with PCE contamination in soil and groundwater and the development and implementation of Groundwater Management Plan as alternative remedy.

National Publisher:

Environmental counsel for publicly traded national publisher with facilities in multiple states handling legacy liabilities, permitting, compliance, toxic tort and UST matters.

National Car Rental Company:

Lead counsel in multiple environmental matters for a national car rental company including successful mediation of multi-party soil and groundwater contamination dispute at San Francisco International Airport.

Enforcement Defense:

Defense of enforcement actions brought by EPA, DTSC and district attorneys in Yolo, Placer, San Joaquin and Sacramento Counties.

National Railroad Corporation:

Defense of large national railroad corporation in enforcement and related injunction proceedings. Negotiated substantial reductions in penalties and use of supplemental environmental projects.

Regional Water Quality Control Boards:

Hearings and other administrative proceedings before Regional Water Quality Control Boards on waste discharge requirements, cease and desist orders, and cleanup or abatement orders.

Environmental Insurance:

Environmental insurance claims for policyholders and insurance coverage disputes.

APPOINTMENTS/ BOARDS

Member, Board of Directors, California Bar Foundation

Appointee (2011) Contemporary Groundwater Issues Council of California; sponsored by the Groundwater Resources Association of California.

Former Member, Advisory Committee representing stakeholders, Underground Storage Tank (UST) Clean Up Fund to the State Water Resources Control Board.

Former Appointee, One of five appointees representing owners/operators of underground storage tanks on a 15 member state task force. State Water Resources Control Board Task Force on the Underground Storage Tank Clean Up Fund.

Former Executive Committee Member and Past Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee; Former Chair of Environmental Law Practice Group for Downey Brand LLP.

Former Professional Staff Member for California State Senate Majority Leader's Office; Staff Assistant for the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Subcommittee handling RCRA, CERCLA and Cogeneration facilities.

AWARDS

2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 listed as Super Lawyer of Northern California for Environmental Litigation; "Guide to the World's Leading Environmental Lawyers" (nominated by clients and peers as a leading adviser in the field of environmental law)    

MEMBERSHIPS

Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA), Groundwater Committee, Member

Groundwater Resources Association of California, Former Board Member

National Brownfield Association, California Chapter, Member

EDUCATION

Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri (J.D. 1985)

University of Rochester, New York, (B.A. 1980)

PUBLICATIONS

ABA Environmental Litigation Committee Newsletter, "CERCLA: Cutting a Wider Path By Preemption of State Law Claims," Fall 2004, Co-Author with Amilia Sanders Glikman

California Environmental Law and Remediation Reporter, Former Editorial Board and Contributing Editor

Environmental Litigation Committee Newsletter, Volume 8, No. 1, "Recovery of Attorneys' Fees in Post Key Tronic Cost Recovery Actions Under CERCLA," 1996, Co-Author

PRESENTATIONS

Sacramento County Bar Section on Environmental Law, "CERCLA Cost Recovery in Flux-The fallout from Aviall and the Battle in the Ninth Circuit," 2006, Presenter

Groundwater Resources Association Conference on Groundwater Management, "Using Groundwater Management Planning to Protect Water Supplies from VOC Contamination," 2004, Presenter

CHARITABLE

Congregation B’nai Israel, President Elect, Board of Trustees; Capital Campaign, Co-Chair

Sacramento Theatre Company Foundation, Board Member