Sophia B. Castillo
Partner
Sophie Castillo (formerly Belloli) is an experienced environmental litigator that helps her clients comply with, and litigate if necessary, complex issues relating to toxics and contaminated sites, California's Proposition 65, and water quality laws.
Sophie’s clients include industrial facilities, oil and gas companies, product manufacturers and public agencies faced with environmental and regulatory issues in California. She prides herself on her excellent client relationships and helping her clients craft practical, common-sense and creative solutions to their most difficult environmental and regulatory problems.
Sophie has expertise in emergency response and associated natural resources damages claims. She defends complex, multi-party CERCLA/contaminated property cases, including toxic tort matters where personal injuries are alleged. She frequently represents clients in environmental lawsuits filed by citizen plaintiffs in her Clean Water Act and Proposition 65 practices, and has litigated and resolved favorably for her clients numerous Clean Water Act and Proposition 65 citizen suits.
In her Proposition 65 practice, Sophie also routinely advises clients on compliance with (and, if necessary, litigation of) Proposition 65 matters, in a wide variety of industries, from chemical and product manufacturers to retailers. Examples of Proposition 65 matters include cases involving cosmetics, food and beverage, lead hardware, power tools, notebooks, sports equipment, glassware, cleaning products, and home goods. Sophie is well versed in exposure issues relating to Proposition 65 chemicals that are frequently litigated by citizen plaintiffs, including lead, acrylamide, di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), cocamide DEA, titanium dioxide, and benzophenone.
Professional, Community And Pro Bono Involvement
- Bar Association of San Francisco, Environmental Law Section
- Association of California Water Agencies, Water Quality Committee Member
- California Stormwater Quality Association
- Central Valley Clean Water Association
- California Association of Sanitation Agencies, Associate Member
- San Francisco Bay Planning Coalition
- Association of Women in Water, Energy and the Environment
Honors & Rankings
- U.C. Hastings Pro Bono Attorney Honor Roll, U. C. Hastings Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, 2012
- Articles Editor, Hastings Law Journal, 2004-05
- U.C. Hastings Moot Court Team, Roger Traynor Appellate Moot Court Competition, Second Place – Best Oral Argument, 2004
Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Litigation
- Represented city in Clean Water Act citizen suit, alleging sanitary sewer overflows. Settled case favorably for our client prior to trial and expensive expert discovery.
- Represented scrap metal recycling facility in Clean Water Act citizen suit, alleging violations of the State of California’s General Industrial Storm Water Permit. Settled case favorably for our client prior to formal litigation.
- Represented industrial compressed gas facility in Clean Water Act citizen suit, alleging violations of the State of California’s General Industrial Storm Water Permit. The Plaintiff dismissed the case in its entirety during motion practice in the litigation.
- Represented marine shipping terminal in Clean Water Act citizen suit alleging violations of the State of California’s General Industrial Storm Water Permit. Settled case favorably for client following successful Motion for Summary Judgment, discovery motions and expert discovery.
Proposition 65 Counseling & Litigation Defense
- Represented product manufacturers and retailers in defending and settling numerous Proposition 65 matters, both at the pre-litigation notice phase and in litigation, in the following industries: cosmetics, food and beverage, lead hardware, power tools, notebooks, sports equipment, glassware, and cleaning products.
- Advised clients on Prop. 65 compliance programs and supply chain management issues resulting from Proposition 65 compliance decisions.
- Advised clients on indemnity concerns and supply chain communications following Proposition 65 compliance programs and litigation claims.
Contaminated Property Litigation
- Litigated multiple CERCLA/superfund contaminated property cases at former dry cleaning sites and managed settlement and mediation efforts for cost recovery issues.
- Defended three state court coordinated actions with ten plaintiffs asserting CERCLA and state law personal injury claims arising from alleged vapor intrusion from alleged soil/ground water contamination at former dry cleaning site.
Water Rights/Supply Projects & Litigation
- Prosecuted, through trial, a complex water right dispute between three public agencies.
- Assisted in representation of developer in litigation relating to purchase and sale of water rights in Southern California.
- Settled a dispute relating to water system capital maintenance costs between two public agencies on the cusp of arbitration.
- Counseled water district client in large water transfer/purchase and wheeling project through the Delta and through multiple public water district facilities, which included multiple contracts between multiple agencies as well as associated environmental review.
Land Use Projects & Litigation
- Assisted developer with CEQA historic resource analysis, issues and advocacy before local public agency.
- Represented public agency in CEQA historic resource writ matter.
- Represented multiple cities and counties in CEQA and local land use writ matters brought by citizen groups.
In the News
1 related items-
December 12, 2017Law Firm Downey Brand Names Six New Partners
Sacramento Business Journal
Press Releases
2 related items-
December 12, 2017Downey Brand Names Six New Partners
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January 14, 2015Sophia B. Belloli Rejoins Downey Brand
Downey Brand Strengthens its Environmental Law Practice with the Return of Sophia B. Belloli
Speaking Engagements / Events
8 related items-
October 23-24, 2019Legal and Operational Viewpoints on Composting Operations: Wastewater and Air Concerns for IndustrySpeaker, 2019 Mapistry Pollution Prevention Summit
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September 23, 2019New Chemical Listings: How to Make Sure Your Company Stays CompliantPanelist, Prop 65 Clearinghouse Annual Conference
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September 28-29, 2016What To Know For The Next Wet Season And BeyondPresenter, Storm Water Awareness Week Webcasts
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May 27, 2015Bay Planning Coalition Expert BriefingStorm Water Management: The New Industrial & Municipal Regulations
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December 2013Vapor Intrusion at a Former Dry Cleaning SiteAssociation of Defense Counsel Annual Meeting, Toxic Tort Session
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November 2013Stormwater: What You Need to Know to Survive WinterCo-speaker, Hanson Bridgett Public Agency Roundtable
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February 2013Current Issues in Storm Water Regulation in CaliforniaPresenter, Lorman Education Services Seminar
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July 2010Update on New California Water Law and LegislationNorthern California County Counsel Meeting
Legal Alerts
7 related items-
September 6, 2018The Latest in the Prop. 65 World: Jury Trials; Inorganic Arsenic in Rice; and the FDA Weighs in on Coffee
Environmental Law -
August 31, 2018U.S. District Court Holds USEPA Must Regulate Previously Exempted Stormwater Runoff from Specified Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional Sources in Los Angeles
Water Quality Law -
November 6, 2017New Proposition 65 Clear and Reasonable Warning Regulations Are Effective in 2018
Environmental Law -
October 5, 2017Proposition 65 Warning Required for Furfuryl Alcohol as of September 30, 2017
Environmental Law -
June 12, 2017DOJ Issues Policy Memo Limiting the Use of Supplemental Environmental Projects in Federal Settlements
Environmental Law -
April 4, 2017Water Board Adopts Revisions to Enforcement Policy That Are Expected to Generally Increase Penalties
Environmental Law -
January 21, 2015New Proposed Proposition 65 Regulations Equal Less Help and More Hurt (and Litigation) for Industry
Environmental Law
Publications
5 related items-
October 2016Practical Advice on Avoiding Prop. 65 Enforcement
California Grocer, Issue 5 -
November 2013New Prop. 65 Is A Relief for California Manufacturers
Co-author, Law360 -
August 2009Lead-Free Plumbing Regulations on the Horizon in 2010
The Marin Lawyer -
October 2008State Board Freezes Enrollment in Statewide General Stormwater NPDES Permits for Construction and Industrial Permits Following Writ in City of Arcadia Case
California Water Law & Policy -
2007Cooper Industries v. Aviall Services: Implications for the United States’ Liability Under CERCLA
56 Hastings Law Journal 193 (2004) [cited in Atlantic Research Corp. v. United States, 459 F.3d 827 (8th Cir. 2006) (affirmed by United States v. Atlantic Research Corp., 551 U.S. 128 (2007))]
Sophie loves being outside and on the water, and is most comfortable in flip flops at the beach or on a boat with her husband and daughters. She and her family enjoy sailing in San Francisco Bay and traveling to warmer climes (including Florida, where they are from) and swimming in the ocean without a wetsuit.
Sophie is also devoted to women’s and children’s issues, and volunteers at her daughter’s school, Convent of the Sacred Heart, in San Francisco. She has also been actively involved in The Junior League of San Francisco, a non-profit women’s organization that supports and strengthens the lives of women and children in the San Francisco community.
Professional, Community And Pro Bono Involvement
- Bar Association of San Francisco, Environmental Law Section
- Association of California Water Agencies, Water Quality Committee Member
- California Stormwater Quality Association
- Central Valley Clean Water Association
- California Association of Sanitation Agencies, Associate Member
- San Francisco Bay Planning Coalition
- Association of Women in Water, Energy and the Environment
Honors & Rankings
- U.C. Hastings Pro Bono Attorney Honor Roll, U. C. Hastings Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, 2012
- Articles Editor, Hastings Law Journal, 2004-05
- U.C. Hastings Moot Court Team, Roger Traynor Appellate Moot Court Competition, Second Place – Best Oral Argument, 2004