Pipeline Safety Group

Cooper's PIPELINE SAFETY GROUP is staffed with attorneys who regularly counsel and defend energy industry clients, including many national companies who own gas and petroleum pipelines.  Our lawyers have in-depth experience in virtually all of the key disciplines relevant to pipeline safety, including state One Call Statutes, Federal OPS/DOT regulations, OSHA and State Fire Marshall investigations, environmental law, regulatory law, intellectual property, health and safety legislation, employment, toxic torts, criminal, and appellate work.  More specifically, this experience includes the following capabilities: 

  • Pipeline Safety:  We represent clients in all legal aspects of oil and gas pipeline safety.  We have counseled clients on large-scale and catastrophic accidents, offshore oil spills, wetlands oil spills, safety training, state and federal regulatory actions, and virtually every kind of related commercial litigation.  We work closely with legislative institutions dealing with pipeline owner responsibilities and regularly counsel our clients as to prospective and actual changes in required safety procedures.
  • Emergency Response:  We assist clients in the aftermath of petroleum and hazardous substance spills – from very small discharges to those spills where the immediate consequence is potentially enormous.  In addition to helping companies comply with applicable reporting requirements, we advise clients as to handling the many critical issues that arise following a spill, including environmental investigation and remediation activities, civil and criminal enforcement proceedings, claims for natural resource damages, and claims for damage to persons or property. 
  • Release Prevention Training:  We help companies plan in advance for the possibility of a spill by upgrading line rider and safety training, by improving the quality of safety manuals, and by developing release reporting and reaction protocols.  Our attorneys have been included as members of clients' emergency response teams responding to oil and hazardous substance releases and other types of emergencies.
  • Trial Experience:  We have extensive jury trial experience, and have tried complex environmental cases before administrative law judges, hearing boards, federal and state court judges, arbitrators and juries.  We have handled appeals in federal and California state courts as well as administrative agencies, including the EPA Environmental Appeals Board and the Interior Board of Land Appeals.  We regularly represent energy interests in high-stakes complex litigation of all kinds such as OSHA citations, fire marshall investigators, toxic-tort, personal injury, wrongful death, environmental claims, intellectual property claims, contract disputes and oil spills.  Our environmental litigators have an extraordinary range of experience, ranging from the quick, efficient disposition of small toxic torts or Proposition 65 cases, to CEQA and land use matters, and complex multi-party environmental litigation.
  • Insurance:  We handle and direct insurance coverage analyses and defense for a variety of issues, including environmental contamination, other insurance clauses and third party indemnity issues.
  • Compliance:  Together with our Energy Group, we have decades of experience advising companies regarding compliance with air quality regulations in  all federal, state, and local air quality management districts, and our attorneys have served in both government and as senior environmental lawyers for large multinational corporations.  Similarly, we advise clients regarding compliance with water quality laws and negotiating discharge permit conditions, cleanup and abatement orders, and the favorable resolution of various agency enforcement actions.

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