David J. Freeman

Mr. Freeman has over 35 years of experience representing buyers, sellers, and developers of contaminated properties, as well as both plaintiffs and defendants in Superfund and other litigation regarding the cleanup of hazardous waste sites. He is a frequent author and speaker on environmental law topics. He is the recipient of the 2021 Distinguished Service Award from the New York City Brownfield Partnership and a 2012 Burton Award as “an outstanding law firm author.” His extensive bar association and pro bono activities include service as President of the New York City Brownfield Partnership, Vice Chair of the New York State League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, Co-Chair of the New York State Bar Association Environmental Law Section Committee of Hazardous Waste/Site Cleanup, and Special Legal Counsel to the United Nations Environment Programme for North American Environmental Affairs.

Among Mr. Freeman’s representations have been the following:

• Representation of Citigroup Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary MRC Holdings, Inc. with respect to the investigation and cleanup of the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site in Brooklyn, New York.
• Representation of The Related Companies in connection with multiple brownfield projects in Manhattan and Queens.
• Representation of Syntex Corporation, Syntex (USA), Inc., and Syntex Agribusiness, Inc. in connection with personal injury, property damage, and cleanup cost recovery litigation brought by the United States, the State of Missouri, and private plaintiffs with respect to dioxin contamination at Times Beach and 42 other sites in Eastern Missouri.
• Representation of Phibro, Inc. in connection with the Multidistrict MBTE Product Liability Litigation in the Southern District of New York.
• Representation of Getty Petroleum Marketing Inc., Getty Properties, Corp., and Getty Realty Corp. with respect to claims for property damage, injunctive relief, and punitive damages with respect to contamination from a gasoline station site in New York City.
• Representation of Metro-North Commuter Railroad in a cost recovery action for alleged PCB contamination of a golf course in Stamford, Connecticut.
• Representation of Lehman Asset Management Corporation in connection with environmental cleanup and filing of a Remedial Action Outcome Statement with respect to TCE contamination at the Brickstone Site in Andover, Massachusetts.
• Representation of Kobe Copper Products, Inc. in private party cleanup cost recovery litigation with respect to alleged PCB contamination at the Ward Transformer Superfund Site in Wade County, North Carolina.
• Representation of Lonza, Inc., a Swiss-based fine chemical and pharmaceutical company, with respect to cleanup of the Peterson Puritan Superfund Site in Cumberland, Rhode Island.
• Representation of Jewish Home Lifecare in the cleanup of a former gas station in the Bronx to facilitate the construction of low-income housing.
• Representation of a major tenant of 7 World Trade Center and a major insurer of the Deutsche Bank building in connection with the environmental cleanup of those properties in the aftermath of the events of September 11, 2001.
• Representation of a major automobile manufacturer in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in an appeal of a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board regarding a waiver of Clean Air Act requirements for automotive air emissions.

Mr. Freeman is a frequent speaker and writer on environmental topics. He is a contributing author to the American Bar Association’s handbook, Environmental Aspects of Real Estate Transactions, and a member of the Board of Advisors of Real Estate/ Environmental Liability News. He has served as Editor-in-Chief of West Publications’ Journal of Environmental Law & Practice and is an Annual Update Editor for West’s treatise, Environmental Law & Regulation in New York. He won a 2012 Burton Distinguished Legal Writing Award as “an outstanding law firm author” for his article on ASTM’s new Building Energy Performance Assessment Standard.

Mr. Freeman is also active in pro bono and bar association activities. He is Vice Chair of the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund and a Director and the past President of the New York City Brownfield Partnership. He is Co-Chair of the Committee on Hazardous Waste of New York State Bar Association’s Environmental Law Section, and was the recipient of the Section’s 2001 Distinguished Service Award. He is also Co-Chair of the Section’s Brownfields Task Force.