Services offered by Sheahan LLP

Standards and processes related to the remediation of contaminated land.

Legal support for the characterization, the development of a rehabilitation plan and the implementation of a rehabilitation project for an explosives’ manufacturing plant;
Scope and content of a rehabilitation plan for a site used for pulp and paper activities;
Drafting and publication of notices of contamination, decontamination and use restriction for manufacturing and mining industries;
Legal issues related to risk analysis of leaving contaminants from mining activities in land.

Rights, obligations and constraints related to the use of water and groundwater.

Analysis of permits required for industrial use of water by the metallurgic and gas sectors;
Water restitution obligations;
Quality and treatment standards for the effluents of mining, pulp and paper and food processing industries.

Regulatory framework governing the mining, forestry and gas industries.

Strategy and application for federal, provincial and municipal environmental permits.

Application for, and obtaining issuance of, municipal, provincial and federal permits for manufacturing and testing of industrial equipment;
Transfer, modification and revocation of environmental permits during the reorganization of a pulp and paper business;
Analysis of permits required as a result of process modifications by a metallurgic operation that holds acquired rights;
Permits required for the construction and operation of dams and a hydroelectric power plant.

Integration of legal and strategic issues in the environmental impact assessment of major projects.

Identification and integration of legal issues in the environmental impact assessment of a residual materials combustion project;
Decree and permit requirements for a wind power project.

Identification and integration of statutory requirements applicable to a plant closure or to the partial cessation of operations.

Counselling and negotiations for the approval of a rehabilitation plan for a closed pulp and paper plant;
Decontamination and dismantling obligations for the closure of a manufacturing and storage site;
Counselling and negotiation with governmental authorities for the characterization and rehabilitation of an industrial equipment manufacturing plant in the context of a sale and change of use.

Transaction documents involving the assumption of environmental liabilities, indemnities, rehabilitation work and environmental services.

Drafting of services agreements for the elimination of hazardous materials;
Drafting and negotiation of a mining site rehabilitation agreement;
Drafting and negotiation of a services agreement for the rehabilitation of an industrial site;
Drafting of environmental indemnification agreements.

Due diligence in order to assess environmental performance and liabilities from the seller’s, buyer’s, lender’s and investor’s perspective.

Negotiation and contractual drafting for the sale of a chemical products manufacturing division;
Negotiation and contractual drafting for the sale of assets in the forestry industry;
Due diligence for the constitution of a REIT.

Annual reports, management discussion and analysis reports, prospectuses and social responsibility reports for public companies.

Review of disclosure of environmental risks and performance in continuous information documents filed by a public company in the pulp and paper sector;
Review of the social responsibility report of a company in the transportation business;
Review and drafting of environmental disclosure in the prospectus related to the sale of REIT units.

Existing and emerging greenhouse gas emissions reduction regulations.

Drafting and negotiation of an offsets purchase agreement;
Opinion on the ownership of greenhouse gas emissions reduction units relating to a methane collection project in a landfill site;
Advice on the application and the collection mechanisms of the carbon tax.

Analysis and written representations with regard to draft laws and regulations.

Drafting of representations relating to the modification of Guideline 019 pertaining to the mining industry;
Analysis and advice on the effect of regulatory amendments in the cement sector;
Drafting of representations relating to the modification of the mining sites restoration regime.

Civil, penal and administrative liability resulting from an environmental impact.

Opinion on the sources of liability of a land owner for contamination caused by past industrial activities;
Counselling and training of public company executives regarding shareholders’, directors’ and officers’ environmental liability;
Opinion on a lender’s potential environmental liability depending on the nature of the hypothecary recourse exercised.

Environmental notices and reporting required for the carrying on of certain activities and in the event of accidental discharges.

Opinion and drafting of internal guidelines on the circumstances in which a notice of contamination must be given to neighbouring land owners and governmental authorities;
Drafting of a practical guideline on the notices to be given to federal and provincial authorities in the event of accidental discharges of contaminants in the environment for a manufacturing business;
Opinion and resolution strategies for reaching an agreement with governmental authorities on the conditions in which a notice of a release to the atmosphere must be provided.