Thomas M. Duncan

Environmental Transactions & Brownfield Redevelopment

Tom represents developers, private equity investors, manufacturers and institutions in complex transactions for the purchase and sale of real estate and businesses involving current and former industrial sites in which environmental risks and liabilities are critical to the structure of the transaction and investment analysis. He also works with developers on Brownfield redevelopment projects and obtaining governmental approvals under state voluntary cleanup programs, including Pennsylvania’s Act 2 program.

His representation includes contract negotiation, environmental due diligence, securing pre-acquisition federal and state cleanup liability protections, site characterization and remediation, institutional and engineering controls, and permit transfers. He also has extensive experience navigating property transfer laws, including New Jersey’s Industrial Site Recovery Act (ISRA).

Environmental Regulatory Compliance

Tom assists clients with obtaining permits and approvals and defending against enforcement actions under federal and state law, including CERCLA, RCRA, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and state law equivalents. He also negotiates consent decrees and settlements with federal and state agencies and has conducted comprehensive internal environmental audits. In addition, he assists clients with complex remediation of soil, surface water and groundwater; oversees consultants’ work; and pursues alternative attainment standards in a cost-effective and timely manner. Tom also provides immediate counseling to industrial facilities responding to emergencies from releases of hazardous substances to the environment, including coordinating response actions and responding to governmental inquiries.

Tom’s regulatory capabilities include:

• Air, Water, and Waste Permitting and Enforcement
• Asbestos
• Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know (EPCRA)
• Endangered Species
• Environmental Audits
• Natural Resource Damages
• Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)
• PFAS and Emerging Contaminants
• Remediation
• Storage Tanks
• Spill Planning and Response
• Sewage Facilities
• Storm Water
• Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)
• Vapor Intrusion
• Wastewater
• Wetlands

Environmental Litigation

Tom represents clients before federal and state courts and administrative agencies; the New Jersey Office of Administrative Hearings and Dispute Resolution; and the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board. He defends clients in Superfund and state cost recovery litigation involving successor liability, unilateral orders, remedy selection, consent decrees, allocation and contract and common law claims.

He assists clients with responding to administrative orders, information requests and penalty assessments. Tom also appeals air quality, water quality and solid waste permits in response to objectionable conditions and defends environmental permits against third-party challenges. He also serves as special counsel to municipalities.

Service & Thought Leadership

Tom is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Environmental Law Section and the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Environmental and Energy Law Section. He serves as secretary of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Environmental and Energy Law Section, and chairs the Section’s Pro Bono Committee. A frequent speaker and writer, Tom has authored the “Citizen Suits in Pennsylvania” chapter in the two most recent editions of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s treatise, Pennsylvania Environmental Law & Practice. He holds a governor-appointed position as a member of the Environmental Hearing Board Rules Committee. Tom is a member of the Delaware Valley Environmental American Inn of Court and chaired its Membership Committee. He also serves on the board of the Lower Merion Conservancy and was previously an appointed member of East Bradford Township’s Environmental Advisory Council.

Prior Experience

Tom came to Faegre Drinker from an environmental and energy boutique law firm. Previously, he was an environmental attorney at an Am Law 100 firm and prior to that was an assistant counsel at the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board. During law school, Tom served as a law clerk at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as a legal intern at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and as a judicial clerk to Judge Thomas J. Rueter of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Personal Interests

Tom is married to his high school sweetheart, and they have three young children. In his free time, Tom enjoys coaching and spending time with his family.