Mr.Thornhill advises clients on environmental energy and land use matters. His practice is primarily transaction driven, as he handles environmental and land use due diligence and permitting issues in real estate, corporate and energy transactions, including leases, purchase and sale of real property, asset and stock purchases and sales, loans and donations. He has reviewed hundreds of Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments and compliance audits for a broad range of clients. He has also analyzed and made presentations to clients on the implications of EPA’s proposed All Appropriate Inquiry (AAI) standard that will replace the Phase I.

He has represented developers in assessing and resolving issues for re-development of brownfield sites across the country for industrial, commercial and residential projects. Mr. Thornhill is actively working on or recently completed projects under voluntary remediation programs in Iowa, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia. He understands not only how to identify and resolve liability issues at contaminated sites, but also how to address the practical implications of residual contamination and development restrictions that may be encountered after the regulator’s sign off on the site. He has extensive experience using environmental insurance in transactions and brownfield redevelopment, having negotiated terms on behalf of sellers, purchasers, developers and lenders.

He is experienced in landlord, tenant, owner, operator, trustee and lender liability issues involving underground and above ground storage tanks (USTs and ASTs), hazardous and solid waste, hazardous substances, petroleum, asbestos containing materials, lead-based paint, lead in water, radon, wetlands and navigable waters, endangered species and historic resources.

He has worked on a broad range of industrial uses with environmental and natural resource impacts, including energy-related facilities such as power plants and transmission lines; municipal solid waste (MSW), rubble waste and construction and demolition debris landfills, transfer stations and recycling facilities; and sand, gravel and aggregate mining, storage and distribution facilities.