Maureen Brennan has worked on matters under all major federal environmental statutes: the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (Superfund), the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act.
Ms. Brennan has worked on environmental matters involving the development of wind-powered electrical generating facilities, Brownfield developments, land acquisitions for parks, coal mines, steel plants, municipal sewage treatment facilities, solid and hazardous waste landfills and treatment facilities, inorganic chemicals plants, underground storage tanks, public drinking water supplies, newspaper printing operations, radio broadcasting facilities, manufacturers of pumps, automotive parts, electronic components, airplane blades, furniture and various other consumer products, plastic molders and grinders and assembly plants.
She currently represents a company developing wind energy projects in the Midwest.
Ms. Brennan won the U.S. EPA’s Bronze Medal for achievement for her work on a municipal sewage treatment plant case involving a $700 million construction project. The case involved a variety of Clean Water Act and solid waste issues and interactions with state and regional government officials and local citizens groups.
Ms. Brennan began her training in law school as an assistant to attorneys in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office Environmental Section. She worked as a lawyer for the United States Environmental Protection Agency and as an in-house environmental lawyer for TRW Inc. prior to joining Baker Hostetler. She has had cases involving state and federal administrative proceedings such as water, wetland and landfill permit appeals and the negotiation of enforcement orders under the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (including Corrective Action) and Superfund, and has participated in the development of regulations.
Ms. Brennan has worked on several task forces on the issues of redevelopment of contaminated land, including the Ohio Governor’s Task Force, which provided the original draft of what is now Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3746, Ohio’s Voluntary Action Program (Ohio’s Brownfields Program). She was a member of the Steering Committee advising the director of Ohio EPA on the drafting of the rules for the Voluntary Action Program. Ms. Brennan is a member of the 2006-2007 Working Group reviewing the proposed change in Ohio Wetland and Stream Mitigation Issues.
Since the advent of the Brownfields revitalization movement in the early 1990s, Ms. Brennan has been active in this field. Starting as a member of the Cuyahoga County Brownfields Working Group in 1993, she helped formulate policy that influenced the development of Brownfields revitalization in Ohio. She participated on the Governor’s Task Force that drafted the Ohio Brownfields legislation that became law in 1994. She was a member of the Steering Committee and the two subcommittees that drafted the generic numeric cleanup standards that became the regulations for the Ohio Brownfields program (the Ohio Voluntary Action Program) in 1996.
Since then she has advised clients on the details of this program and has assisted clients in obtaining Covenants Not to Sue for a variety of properties under this Program.
Ms. Brennan has assisted clients in negotiating and settling numerous Superfund sites, including as a member of steering committees for several superfund locations in Northern Ohio with cleanup costs exceeding $30 million.
As an attorney with U.S. EPA, an in-house environmental counsel with TRW Inc. and a member of Baker Hostetler, Ms. Brennan has responded to fires, explosions and chemical spills at a variety of facilities. She has done post-emergency assessments and has assisted clients in the preparation of emergency response plans.
Ms. Brennan has extensive wetlands experience on both the permit and enforcement aspects of this practice. She has assisted clients in obtaining wetlands and stream-filling permits, in resolving violations and in commenting on regulatory changes. She served as Vice Chair for Technology for the Water Quality and Wetlands Committee of the Section of Environmental, Energy and Resources of the ABA (2003 to 2004) and currently chairs the Wetland Subcommittee of the Environmental Section of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association.
She has been retained as an expert witness in Ohio wetlands cases and frequently publishes and lectures on this topic. See her articles on the topic below.
She has assisted a major park district in acquiring properties for park expansion and has been a team member in the development of three new reservations within the park district totaling over 1,000 acres.
Ms. Brennan advises clients on the nature and scope of environmental due diligence for raw land as well as occupied properties. She has negotiated the terms of activity and use limitations on real estate in connection with obtaining government remediation funding and Covenants Not to Sue. She has drafted Conservation Easements in connection with obtaining wetlands permits and the settlement of wetlands enforcement actions.
Ms. Brennan has participated as a member of multi-disciplinary transaction teams and as such has commissioned and evaluated Phase Is, Phase IIs and other environmental assessments of manufacturing plants, hotel properties, commercial real estate portfolios and other businesses with multiple locations. She has assisted in the daring of environmental representations, warranties and indemnities as well as the negotiation of environmental insurance coverage to facilitate transactions.
Working as an in-house counsel at TRW Inc., Ms. Brennan organized and lectured in workshops and published training material designed to inform TRW plant employees and management on changing environmental laws. She has lectured for Executive Enterprises, Inc., National Business Institute, the American Bar Association, the Practising Law Institute, the Federal Bar Association, the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association, the Case Western Reserve Law School Consortium, the Ohio Bankers Association and the Ohio Newspaper Association.
Ms. Brennan is a member of the environmental committees of the Ohio State, Pennsylvania, Cleveland Metropolitan and Columbus Bar Associations. She has been an adjunct professor of environmental law at Case Western Reserve University Law School (1990 to 1992 and 2001 to 2006). She is the past chair (1997 to 1998) of the Environmental Section of the Cleveland Bar Association and a past member of the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Environmental Law (1997 to 1998).
Ms. Brennan was named in The Best Lawyers in America in 2007 in the specialty of Environmental Law. She has been named an “Ohio Super Lawyer” since 2005 and in 2008, was named one of the Top 50 Women Lawyers by Ohio Super Lawyers. Ms. Brennan has named in the Chambers USA Guide: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the area of Natural Resources & Environment since 2006.
Ms. Brennan’s speaking engagements and publications include the following, in categories by subject matter:
Ms. Brennan holds an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the leading resource for information on the worldwide legal profession and ethics.
12/31/2011 - 2011 Super Lawyers Announced
11/1/2011 - “Best Lawyers in America” Recognizes 111 Baker Hostetler Attorneys
6/10/2011 - Chambers USA Recognizes 62 Baker Hostetler Lawyers: Named a Leading Firm in 14 Practice Areas