The government devotes substantial resources and employs aggressive strategies to investigate and prosecute environmental crimes. The immediate and collateral consequences of a criminal investigation can be grave. Even the appearance of wrongdoing may generate adverse publicity, leading to a crisis of customer or investor confidence.

In many criminal prosecutions the government may target not only the company employees who engaged in alleged improper activities (such as the unauthorized dumping or discharge of pollutants), but also any high-level corporate officers aware of the activities, regardless of whether they knew these activities violated environmental requirements. Thus, the government's emphasis on criminal enforcement as a primary tool for ensuring compliance with environmental regulations demands constant vigilance and attention in order to protect companies and their officials from the threat of possible criminal liability.

Baker Botts lawyers have the essential skills and experience necessary to help clients address the difficult issues that arise in the criminal enforcement setting. We possess a clear knowledge of the governmental players and the criminal enforcement process based on our prior representation of a number of clients in connection with criminal investigations spanning most major federal environmental laws. In addition, a number of firm lawyers are former U.S. attorneys with first-hand experience prosecuting environmental criminal cases who are now extremely adept at effectively defending these types of cases.

Examples of our representations include:

• Defense of a major chemical manufacturer in a Clean Air Act enforcement case brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Texas
• Defense of a major barge fleeting and shipping company in a Clean Water Act enforcement case initiated by the Texas Environmental Enforcement Task Force
• Defense of a marine transportation company in a Clean Water Act enforcement action resulting from the spill of a hazardous material
• Defense of a large construction firm in a Clean Water Act enforcement case brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Florida
• Defense of persons identified as targets of investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice in connection with alleged falsification of environmental laboratory testing data
• Defense of a natural gas transmission company in an investigation into soil and groundwater hydrocarbon contamination under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Louisiana
• Defense of an energy company in a Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act enforcement case brought by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Oklahoma
• Defense of an individual in a grand jury investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the Clean Air Act's rules on the use of ozone depleting substances

Given our comprehensive understanding of the federal environmental laws and corresponding state programs, we also understand that a decision not to prosecute a company for an environmental crime is only a partial victory if the company is exposed to a multimillion-dollar civil penalty or onerous operating conditions imposed by a consent decree. At the same time, we recognize that continued uncertainty about a matter's outcome, even if the issue of criminal liability is favorably resolved, is often unacceptable to a corporation and its directors, officers, employees and shareholders. Thus, although our first effort is to deter a criminal prosecution, we are mindful of the possibility of far-reaching civil liability under environmental statutes. Where appropriate, we work to achieve global settlements addressing both criminal and civil liability so that a client can resolve this uncertainty, and focus on preventing future instances of noncompliance through the implementation of appropriate environmental programs.