Success Stories
B&D defended BNSF Railway in the largest environmental citizen suit, by dollars of relief sought, in U.S. history. The Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and a host of local environmental groups sued BNSF in federal district court in Seattle. In a case of first impression, Plaintiffs sought to limit the rail transportation of coal by seeking Clean Water Act (CWA) penalties for alleged fugitive coal dust from all rail cars and trains. The statutory maximum penalty under the CWA for the allegations in the complaint was more than $3 trillion. One week into the trial, parties reached a settlement that included a $1 million supplemental environmental project, a non-binding coal car study, and no admission of liability.
B&D provided counsel to the DOJ-appointed Independent Corporate Compliance Monitor and Auditor in Volkswagen’s criminal plea agreement stemming from the company’s scheme to sell diesel vehicles containing software designed to cheat on U.S. emissions tests. B&D’s former Chairman served as Deputy Monitor - Emissions & Environmental in this high-profile, large-scale international assignment. B&D attorneys helped assess whether Volkswagen’s compliance and ethics programs were reasonably designed and implemented to prevent and detect violations of anti-fraud and environmental law, including Clean Air Act Title II mobile source emission compliance. B&D attorneys also oversaw an extensive multi-site, multi-entity, multi-continent audit and made recommendations to assist the company’s environmental compliance and management efforts, including helping to implement a revised environmental management system suitable for worldwide operations.
