Environmental Law Litigation - Environmental Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants
Douglas S. "Doug" Arnold
Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2007 Awarded Practice Areas
Biography
Doug Arnold is Co-Chair of the firm’s Environment, Land Use & Natural Resources Group. He has over 20 years of experience representing clients in environmental litigation, enforcement, and compliance matters. Doug also has client relationship responsibility for Electrolux North America, as well as for the firm’s environmental work for United Parcel Service, Inc.
Doug is listed in Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America, and The International Who's Who of Environmental Lawyers. He has been named a Georgia "Super Lawyer" 11 consecutive years and was recognized in the 2015 edition of Who’s Who Legal: Environment.
Doug is a previous Co-Chair of the Environmental Litigation Committee of the ABA Section of Litigation and Chair of the Environmental Enforcement and Crimes Committee of the ABA Section of Environment, Energy & Resources (SEER). In 2014 – 2015, he served on the Planning Committee for the ABA’s first ever Super Conference on Environmental Law in San Francisco. Doug currently serves on the Planning Committee for SEER’s 2015 and 2016 Fall Environmental Conferences. He also has published numerous articles and been quoted in BNA’s Toxics Law Reporter, Environmental Law360, The National Law Journal, Mealey’s Emerging Toxic Torts, and BNA’s Environmental Reporter.
Doug is listed in Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America, and The International Who's Who of Environmental Lawyers. He has been named a Georgia "Super Lawyer" 11 consecutive years and was recognized in the 2015 edition of Who’s Who Legal: Environment.
Doug is a previous Co-Chair of the Environmental Litigation Committee of the ABA Section of Litigation and Chair of the Environmental Enforcement and Crimes Committee of the ABA Section of Environment, Energy & Resources (SEER). In 2014 – 2015, he served on the Planning Committee for the ABA’s first ever Super Conference on Environmental Law in San Francisco. Doug currently serves on the Planning Committee for SEER’s 2015 and 2016 Fall Environmental Conferences. He also has published numerous articles and been quoted in BNA’s Toxics Law Reporter, Environmental Law360, The National Law Journal, Mealey’s Emerging Toxic Torts, and BNA’s Environmental Reporter.
Overview
- English
- University of Georgia, J.D., graduated 1991
- University of Virginia, B.Eng, graduated 1988
- Georgia, State Bar of Georgia
- District of Columbia, The District of Columbia Bar
- English
- Georgia, State Bar of Georgia
- District of Columbia, The District of Columbia Bar
- University of Georgia, J.D., graduated 1991
- University of Virginia, B.Eng, graduated 1988
Client Testimonials
Awards & Focus
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2026 for work in:
- Environmental Law
- Litigation - Environmental
- Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants
Additional Areas of Practice:
- Mass Tort Litigation
News & Media
Additional Information
Case History
Cases
- Experience
- Won summary judgment on Atlantic Research grounds in a CERCLA cost recovery suit involving past and future cleanup costs exceeding $400 million. The 11th Circuit upheld the dismissal on appeal, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied a subsequent petition for certiorari.
- Has successfully defended clients in administrative enforcement actions brought by U.S. EPA Region 4 involving alleged violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Toxics Substances Control Act (TSCA), and Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).
- Successful pre-trial settlement of four lawsuits in Alabama and West Virginia against a Fortune 50 chemical manufacturer brought by 1,400 plaintiffs seeking damages for injuries allegedly caused by chemical exposures.
- Class-wide settlement for less than defense costs at pre-summary judgment stage of a putative class action seeking property damage for 36,000 claimants from alleged releases of lead and other pollutants from former foundry operations.
- Part 2
- Criminal declination for a corporate parent and two subsidiaries in connection with Clean Water Act violations at the client’s waste water treatment facility. Led the initial internal investigation into whistleblower allegations of illegal facility discharges and assisted the client with reporting results under EPA’s Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy. U.S. Department of Justice Environmental Crimes Section and U.S. EPA Criminal Investigative Division filed charges against the former facility manager and supervisor, but brought no charges against the client parent or subsidiaries.
- Defeated a class certification of personal injury claims involving alleged chemical exposures asserted by approximately 30,000 putative class members in Alabama, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Montana, and Colorado.
- Represented a national building products company in mass tort litigation involving 19 lawsuits and more than 1,300 plaintiffs alleging personal injuries caused by air and surface water emissions from former wood treatment operations. The chemicals of concern included dioxin, arsenic, creosote and chromium, which allegedly resulted in cancers, birth defects and other diseases. Successfully settled all claims in a two-day mediation following the close of fact discovery in the first four lawsuits.
- Part 3
- Obtained a criminal declination for a corporation and its subsidiary after a two-plus-year investigation in which the government sought a felony indictment and $4 million in fines for alleged RCRA violations from an alleged spill of 1.3 million gallons of hazardous chemicals. The federal agencies involved included the U.S. EPA Criminal Investigative Division, FBI, and U.S. Department of Justice Environmental Crimes Section.
- Defended a national appliance manufacturer in three lawsuits in San Francisco Superior Court for alleged perchloroethylene (PCE) contamination in soil and groundwater. The plaintiffs collectively sought $150 million in damages from nine defendant companies. Based on defense experts’ reports and testimony, resolved the claim in a pre-trial mediation for less than one percent of the damages sought.
- Has conducted internal corporate audits and investigations of client facilities in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia and helped clients develop environmental compliance strategies to mitigate their potential liability.
- Part 4
- Obtained a dismissal for a client on motion to dismiss grounds in a dioxin exposure case involving a former federal Superfund site in Arkansas.
- Summary judgment granted for a client in two related toxic tort suits in Maryland and Massachusetts involving alleged exposure to chlordane and other pesticides.
- Successful settlement of toxic tort lawsuit in Madison County, Illinois, prior to the start of discovery; the case involved claims by 300 plaintiffs against the client for personal injury and property damage from alleged exposure to manganese, lead, arsenic, and chromium from air emissions and surface water runoff from former mineral processing operations.
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