Houston Environmental Law Attorneys Safeguarding Your Landowner Rights

Texans love their land, and enjoy the blue skies, clear lakes and streams and fertile soils that support our way of life. Companies that sidestep environmental laws create an uneven playing field for competitors and leave a mess for you to clean up.

At Gibson PC, our team of Houston environmental lawyers use their experience as commercial litigators to represent you when you need to challenge operators or their insurance companies. We don’t back down from a fight, and we sleep better at night knowing we’re on the right side of your fight.

How Environmental Law Protects Your Land And Your Investments

Ultimately, landowners in Texas are responsible for the condition of their property, especially when toxic substances are found in the water, soil or air. However, “ownership” of the land can become a complicated question if you have severed or transferred ownership of oil and mineral rights for your land to another party. For environmental threats that persist or have not previously been addressed, the sale or purchase of the land may require additional due diligence and legal paperwork to assign who is going to fix the problem.

Land in the Permian Basin, the largest petroleum-producing part of the state, is governed primarily by comprehensive state and federal environmental regulations. Our attorneys can walk you through what laws apply in your situation and how to file a complaint.

Federal And State Laws Energy Companies Must Follow

Some of the key federal laws that protect the health of Texas ecosystems include:

• The Clean Water Act
• The Clean Air Act
• The Endangered Species Act
• Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, also known as the CERCLA or Superfund Act

CERCLA is especially important to landowners because while it holds landowners responsible for hazardous substance clean up, regardless of whether they caused the contamination, it also protects property purchasers through Landowner Liability Protections such as the Innocent Landowner Defense and the Bona Fide Prospective Purchasers program.

At the state level, operators must follow these environmental laws, among others:

• Texas Surface Water Quality Standards, which cover lakes, rivers, streams and bays
• The Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, which monitors general industrial discharges
• The Railroad Commission of Texas, which regulates discharges and environmental compliance specifically for oil and gas operations
• The Texas Clean Air Act
• Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act

If you’re concerned that an energy company is violating environmental regulations on your land, contact us for a free initial consultation to discuss what’s happening.

How Can A Texas Environmental Attorney Help Me Prepare My Case? 

Environmental law cases turn on skillfully presented evidence and cold, hard facts. Our lawyers gather information by making visits to your property, analyzing satellite photographs and consulting with experts to explain test results and the impact of negligent or unlawful actions. We draw upon our experience as commercial litigators and our professional network to document your claim and shift responsibility for the damage to your property to the company who caused it.

We Protect You, Not The Energy Companies

Our Houston environmental law team can use this area of the law to force energy companies who extract oil or other energy sources to do so safely and without damaging your property. Call our offices at 713-766-9076 or use our online contact form to set up your free, no-obligation initial consultation.