Karen Gaylord’s practice focuses on environmental and natural resources matters. She counsels municipalities, water providers, businesses and individuals. She has extensive experience in representing responsible parties in state and federal Superfund sites throughout Arizona. Karen has negotiated and obtained a variety of permits required for remediation of soils and groundwater, assisted with development of Brownfield properties, advised clients with cleanup of soils and groundwater, assisted with development of Brownfield properties, advised clients on the purchase or condemnation of potentially contaminated property, and handled wastewater treatment and reuse matters.
Representative Professional Experience
- Represents an international aerospace company regarding its environmental compliance and state and federal Superfund issues.
- Negotiated a complex settlement agreement to govern cleanup of a jet fuel spill at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.
- Advised Brownfield developer of the Tempe Marketplace Project, securing the delisting of the properties from the federal Superfund list and providing legal support for remediation.
- Negotiated voluntary compliance agreements for western electric utility to allow the Navajo Nation to take over regulation of a power plant located on the Nation’s reservation.
- Leads environmental compliance audit teams.
- Represents clients in state and federal superfund sites throughout Arizona.
- Represents a small southern Arizona water company in water quality issues, including negotiation of a settlement agreement that provided the water company with new wells to replace wells contaminated by a sulfate plume from a nearby copper mine.
- Successfully negotiated Arizona’s first ever Mitigation Order under WQARF to require a mining company to clean up a plume of sulfate contamination.
- Advised a beverage bottling company in ensuring compliance with changing state and federal permit requirements.
- Represented a western electric utility in negotiating a Consent Decree resolving Superfund Liability associated with the utility’s acquisition of a parcel of land for a utility pole.
- Advised laundry services contractor in asbestos compliance issues.
- Handled WQARF and CERCLA liability issues, including issues related to the SIBW and NIBW federal Superfund sites, the Northwest Tempe WQARF site, and the Sanders Aviation cleanup site on behalf of a municipality.
- Resolved multiple water and environmental issues related to the Rio Salado Project for a local government.
- Secured a comfort letter from USEPA for a City purchasing a source property within the NIBW federal Superfund site.
- Represented the League of Arizona Cities and Towns on the Cleanup Standards Policy Task Force, which established Arizona’s Soil Remediation Standards.
- Served on the Joint Select Legislative Committee on the Water Quality Assurance Revolving Fund and the Groundwater Cleanup Task Force, which reformed the Arizona Superfund Program to establish proportionate share liability and dedicated orphan share funding.
