Environmental Law and litigation

emk@bcltlaw.com
Tel: 415 228 5400

Estie M. Kus

Estie Kus is an environmental associate with Barg Coffin Lewis & Trapp, LLP. Her practice focuses on environmental compliance counseling and litigation under federal and state water and toxic and hazardous substances statutes. Before joining the firm, Estie served as a law clerk in both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Attorney General's Summer Honors Programs.

Estie's professional expertise includes:

Representing clients in judicial and administrative proceedings involving environmental claims, including cost-recovery claims under federal and state statutes (CERCLA, RCRA, Clean Water Act, California Hazardous Substances Account Act, and Polanco Redevelopment Act), as well as common law claims (nuisance, trespass, and indemnity)
Representing clients in criminal investigations of alleged water quality violations
Defending toxic tort claims arising from alleged environmental contamination exposures such as perchloroethylene (PCE), trichloroethylene (TCE), and asbestos
Defending claims under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (California's Proposition 65)
Negotiating with regulatory agencies for favorable terms in wastewater discharge permits, cleanup orders, and air emissions permits
Processing reimbursements of corrective action costs with the State Water Resources Control Board - Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund

Education

University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, J.D., 2005
Certificate of Specialty in Environmental Law; Articles Editor, Ecology Law Quarterly; Barry S. Sandals Memorial Fellowship Recipient
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, B.A., Public Policy Analysis, and B.A., Communications, with highest honors, 2001
Phi Beta Kappa

Representative Matters

Defended Union Pacific Railroad Company as owner of contaminated property in a toxic tort action brought by 30 plaintiffs whose drinking water wells and properties were impacted by chlorinated solvents from other sources (two neighborhood dry cleaners) in a lengthy jury trial; the jury returned a defense verdict, finding that contaminants from our client's property had not migrated in groundwater to any plaintiff's well or property.
Defended an alleged potentially responsible party in a cost recovery action involving property contaminated with smelter waste; judgment was entered in favor of client on statute of limitations grounds at the district court level, and plaintiff's appeal to the Ninth Circuit was voluntarily dismissed after submission of answering brief
Defended a Proposition 65 citizen suit alleging that our client failed to warn of alleged exposures of lead from poker chips; the case settled without significant litigation expenses to our client
Represented a major California university in toxic tort claims arising from alleged environmental contamination from asbestos
Represented an alleged potentially responsible party in a cost recovery action brought by a redevelopment agency while concurrently representing the client regarding compliance with an administrative cleanup order for the site
Represented a potential target of a federal criminal enforcement action by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Department of Justice for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act; no charges were filed against our client

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