Environmental Litigations

Industrial polluters can cause extensive damage to people’s health and livelihood. One of the nation’s premier plaintiffs’ law firms, Weitz & Luxenberg uses its environmental expertise to obtain justice for communities affected by environmental pollution.

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How We Can Help

Despite laws to protect people and the environment, pollution and contaminants generated by companies that negligently handle their chemical waste still poison our air, soil, and water, placing people’s lives and livelihoods in jeopardy. Consequences of corporate misconduct include property damage and plummeting property values. Health hazards include cancer, birth defects, and disabilities.

Weitz & Luxenberg is a large and experienced law firm dedicated to holding accountable those responsible for causing these injuries and making wrongdoers pay compensation to their innocent victims.

  • Weitz & Luxenberg is in the forefront of challenging groundwater and drinking water contamination in places such as Flint, Michigan, Hoosick Falls, New York, and elsewhere around the country.

  • We fight for the right to safe air across the country, including in communities such as Porter Ranch, California, where an uncontrolled gas well blowout released dangerous chemicals into the air.

  • Our expert environmental attorneys champion victims of earthquakes caused by wastewater injections of fluids from fracking activities in states such as Oklahoma.

Need legal assistance for an environmental pollution case? Speak to an experienced attorney today for a free case evaluation.
(833) 544-0604

Attorney Spotlight

Weitz & Luxenberg has over 100 attorneys ready to fight for you.

  • Robin Greenwald, Practice Group Chair at Wetiz and Luxenberg

    Robin L. Greenwald

    PARTNER and PRACTICE GROUP CO-CHAIR Environmental Pollution, Consumer Protection

    Robin L. Greenwald joined Weitz & Luxenberg in 2005 and has since led her team to several notable triumphs. Before joining the firm, she spent nearly 20 years prosecuting environmental violations for the U.S. Department of Justice. Over the years, Ms. Greenwald has developed multiple strategies to protect vulnerable environmental resources. She has represented public entities that are faced with the need to remove chemicals from drinking water caused by corporate polluters, and she has obtained relief for people who become sick or whose property is damaged because of avoidable industry pollution. Get In Contact >

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Who & Where It Affects

Pollution knows no boundaries. Weitz & Luxenberg works to help victims of environmental pollution in communities across the United States. We strive to help our clients and remove contamination to land, water and/or air in our communities, while obtaining all appropriate compensation for those who have been harmed by the pollution.

  • 7 Million Americans
    7 Million Americans
    are at risk for man-made earthquakes
    Oklahoma and Texas have the largest populations exposed to human-induced earthquakes.(1)
  • 5 U.S. States
    5 U.S. States
    were affected by the country’s worst oil spill
    Our clients include clean-up workers, homeowners, fishermen, hotels, restaurants and other businesses.(2)
  • 6 Companies
    6 Companies
    made firefighting foam that contaminated groundwater
    PFOS and PFOA chemicals from foam have been linked to cancer and other illnesses.

Holding Corporate Polluters Accountable

At Weitz & Luxenberg, we stand by our passionate belief that everyday people are as entitled to high-powered legal representation as big businesses. For more than three decades, our firm has fought for the victims of corporate negligence and greed, holding oil and gas firms; manufacturers of dangerous chemicals, products, and goods; and other large corporations accountable for their contamination of the environment.

British Petroleum (BP)

After BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, spilling 134 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, Weitz & Luxenberg secured a $7.8 billion settlement on behalf of fishermen, homeowners, and businesses.(3) (4)*

Volkswagen

When tests showed Volkswagen had programmed its diesel vehicles to cheat on emissions tests, Weitz & Luxenberg was one of the first law firms to initiate a class action suit. The subsequent nationwide class action resulted in a $14.7-billion settlement.*

Contaminants & Their Consequences

The cost of chemical waste disposal generated by companies creates the incentive to pollute — either they spend the money to dispose of the waste safely or they discharge it in an unsafe manner that contaminates the environment, including drinking water. 

A company’s improper handling of its waste can result in the contamination of an entire town’s water supply. Oil spills into coastal waters can affect workers in the tourism and fishing industries. And man-made chemicals found in the environment can cause adverse health effects.

Economic impacts of environmental pollution are devastating; the health consequences can be deadly.

  • PFOS (Perfluorooctane Sulfanate Acid)

    Studies suggest exposure to high levels of PFOA and PFOS can cause cancer and could also have developmental, reproductive, and other systemic effects.

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  • MTBE (Methyl-tertiary-butyl Ether)

    Harmful effects of MTBE, a chemical that refineries added to gasoline, required municipal water providers to spend large sums of money to remove it from drinking water; we filed suit to ensure that the cost of that treatment was borne by the polluter and not shifted to the water customer.(5)

    Learn More
  • PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic Acid)

    The U.S. government has issued health advisories for the man-made chemical PFOA and PFOS in drinking water.

Need help finding an attorney? Call our 24/7 Confidential hotline now!

(833) 544-0604

Recent Settlements

Weitz & Luxenberg has a proven track record of successfully handling environmental litigations and securing landmark settlements for our clients.*

* While our past record does not guarantee future success, it is something you may want to consider when evaluating our experience.

  1. U.S. Geological Survey. (2016, March 28). Induced Earthquakes Raise Chances of Damaging Shaking in 2016. Retrieved from https://www.usgs.gov/news/induced-earthquakes-raise-chances-damaging-shaking-2016
  2. Snyder, B. (2014, December 8). BP’s settlement saga by the numbers. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2014/12/08/bps-settlement-saga-by-the-numbers/
  3. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2013, March). Gulf oil spill. Retrieved from http://www.noaa.gov/resource-collections/gulf-oil-spill
  4. Fritz, M. (2012, March 3). BP to Pay $7.8 Billion in Gulf Oil Spill Settlement. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/bp-agrees-to-pay-78-billion-in-gulf-oil-spill-settlement/
  5. Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry. (2015, January 21). Public Health Statement for Methyl-tert-butyl Ether. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20150906181404/https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/phs/phs.asp?id=226&tid=41

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