Marissa L. Curran

There are several thousand pages of state and federal chemical, environmental, health, and safety regulations that affect clients in the day-to-day operation of their businesses. Marissa provides a road map for navigating those regulations, and their implications, in a wide range of business and real estate transactions, from selling a vacant gas station to funding a wind farm to acquiring a health care system to responding to an emergency chemical spill.

Marissa advises a diverse set of clients—from well-known pharmaceutical and manufacturing companies to universities, farms, and small businesses—on a full range of real estate redevelopment, chemical, environmental, health, and safety issues. She helps clients avoid (or minimize) environmental enforcement actions, both administrative and judicial, under a variety of federal and state statutes including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, TSCA , RCRA, CERCLA, FIFRA, EPCRA, OSHA, HMTA, and the Endangered Species and Migratory Bird Treaty Acts. 

Marissa also has experience in food and agriculture matters, homeland security regulations, chemical import and export laws, natural resource damages, and state voluntary cleanup, brownfields, and other environmental tax incentive programs.

In addition to providing regulatory, real estate, and transactional advice, Marissa directs environmental site assessments, Phase II testing, and compliance audits, and works extensively with consulting and engineering firms. Marissa routinely partners with chemists, real estate assessors,  and environmental consultants to present a “full package” of solutions to her clients. 

Marissa was the editor of Harvard Law School’s Environmental Law Journal and president of its Animal Law Section. 

• Defended hospital group in RCRA enforcement action.
• Participated in environmental arbitration in complicated clean-up dispute.
• Assisted chemical companies in defending OSHA enforcement actions.
• Defended chemical manufacturers in FAA and DOT hazardous transport enforcement actions.
• Participated in ongoing strategic case planning for joint defense in multimillion dollar refinery site clean-up.
• Took and defended dozens of depositions in mining, and oil and gas multiparty lawsuits.
• Advised Fortune 100 corporations on TSCA, OSHA, RCRA, FIFRA, HTMA, Clean Water, and Clean Air laws.
• Handled environmental and health and safety due diligence for corporate mergers and acquisitions.
• Analyzed ethical pitfalls of mass tort settlement possibilities for well-known chemical company.
• Successfully disqualified opposing counsel on high-profile conflicts issue.
• Helped companies navigate chemical, personal injury, and property damage lawsuits.
• Assisted chemical company in building pipelines in accordance with DOT regulations for hazardous transport.
• Worked with a major developer to buy and redevelop contaminated property by partnering with state voluntary cleanup programs and taking advantage of tax incentives. 
• Assisted health care company in structuring a transaction to allocate risk associated with transferring (or retaining) environmental liabilities.
• Helped lender and investing firm feel comfortable investing in property with historic environmental issues.
• Represented farming operations that faced clean air and water regulatory burdens and citizen lawsuits.
• Represented client who needed assistance creating and maintaining a conservation bank.
• Helped client navigate new endangered and threatened species regulations in order to file a citizen lawsuit.
• Assisted client in developing community Supplemental Environmental Projects to minimize penalty assessments in hazardous waste enforcement action.
• Worked with client to draft environmental indemnity and release, sales contract, access agreement, license, and environmental escrow agreement for large property sale.
• Guided well known chemical company facing OSHA inspection of its business.
• Coordinated pesticide registration for family owned chemical company.
• Helped international chemical manufacturer navigate the transportation of its products by air, rail, water, and truck.