Photo of David Mandelbaum

David G. Mandelbaum represents clients facing problems under environmental laws. He regularly represents clients in lawsuits and also has helped clients achieve satisfactory outcomes through regulatory negotiation or private transactions. A Fellow of the American College of Environmental Lawyers, David teaches Superfund, and Oil and Gas Law in rotation at the Temple University Beasley School of Law as well as an environmental litigation course at Suffolk (Boston) Law School.

Since United States v. Atlas Minerals, the first multi-generator Superfund contribution case to go to trial in 1993, Mr. Mandelbaum has been engaged in matters involving allocation of costs among responsible parties, especially under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).  He has tried large cases and resolved others as lead counsel.  He has written, spoken, and taught extensively on the subject.  More recently he also has been engaged to assist lead counsel from this firm and others:

  • to develop cost allocation methodologies;
  • to craft expert testimony in support of a favored methodology (given a definition of “fairness,” why one methodology better tracks it than another);
  • to develop efficient case management approaches; and to assist private allocation as part of the neutral team.

Concentrations

  • Air, water and waste regulation
  • Superfund and contamination
  • Climate change
  • Oil and gas development
  • Water rights

Earlier this month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a “supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking,” calling for comments on air pollution standards for control of methane emissions from new and

Continue Reading EPA’s Methane ‘Super-Emitter’ Proposal: Getting Outside Help

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed to list two “forever chemicals”—perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS)—as “hazardous substances” under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA or

Continue Reading What Difference Will Listing ‘Forever Chemicals’ as Hazardous Substances Make?

I recently wrote a column for The Legal Intelligencer’s Pennsylvania Law Weekly, reposted on this blog here, raising questions about whether the Pennsylvania courts have correctly identified the

Continue Reading Oil and Gas and Another Questionable Pennsylvania Environmental Rights Amendment Decision

The Supreme Court can only decide so many cases. If we are to have a constitutional environmental provision with relevance to the interaction of private activities with the government, Pennsylvania
Continue Reading Is the Pa. High Court Deciding the Most Helpful Environmental Rights Amendment Cases?

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) decided a case this week clarifying the limitation on a municipality’s ability to regulate wetlands and waterway construction more stringently than would the Department
Continue Reading Local Preemption and Wetlands in Massachusetts: An Update