Andrew E. Skroback

Senior Counsel
Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP

New York
United States
T:+1 212 408 5540
New York
United States
T:+1 212 408 5540
Andrew E. Skroback

Andrew E. Skroback

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Biography

Andrew Skroback's (Drew's) practice includes all aspects of environmental law, with emphasis on complex environmental and toxic tort litigation and transactional and business counseling in the renewable energy projects sphere.

Mr. Skroback prosecutes and defends complex environmental and toxic tort actions in federal and state courts, including related to groundwater contamination and vapor intrusion.  He manages the investigation and remediation of contaminated sites under Superfund, RCRA and state authorities and engages with regulatory agencies.  He conducts joint defense efforts with or prosecutes other potentially responsible parties, resolving liabilities through litigation or alternative dispute resolution.  He has resolved billions of dollars of alleged client liabilities at some of the most complex contaminated sediment sites in the nation, including at the Kalamazoo and Passaic Rivers.  

He has advised on hundreds of power development projects in the United States and abroad, including environmental and permitting issues related to renewable energy projects (solar, on- and off-shore wind farms, nuclear and geothermal), as well as natural gas and coal-fired power plants.

Mr. Skroback regularly advises clients on environmental risks and permitting requirements associated with project finance, mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcy, and other business and real estate transactions, and the negotiation thereof.   

He has experience with a broad array of contaminants of concern, including PCBs, dioxin, TCE and other chlorinated solvents, PFAS, asbestos and petroleum.  He has addressed complex environmental issues in a bankruptcy context, environmental insurance matters, and under varied federal and state statutory frameworks, including CERCLA, RCRA, CWA, CAA, OPA and property transfer laws such as NJ's ISRA.

He also regularly advises renewable power project developers and lenders as to the qualification of sites for the brownfield category energy community tax adders under the Inflation Reduction Act.

Professional experience

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LL.M, Environmental Law, Highest Honors, George Washington University Law School, 1997
JD, Boston College Law School, 1994
BA, University of Vermont, 1991

Mr. Skroback is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New York and the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

  • District of Columbia Bar
  • Massachusetts State Bar
  • New York State Bar
  • Environmental Litigation:  Mr. Skroback currently represents Johnson Controls, Inc. against federal and state lawsuits alleging substantial and imminent harm under RCRA and asserting class action toxic tort claims related to vapor intrusion and groundwater contamination from TCE and other chlorinated solvents from a former manufacturing facility in Indiana.
  • Environmental Litigation:  Mr. Skroback resolved multi-billion dollar environmental claims brought by the State of New Jersey against YPF, S.A., Argentina's largest oil and gas producer.  The claims stemmed from allegations relating to dioxin pollution to the Passaic River in Newark, New Jersey, in one of the United States' largest environmental litigations, which also involved issues of fraudulent conveyance and piercing the corporate veil.  Following a favorable settlement with the state, the firm achieved dismissal of seven of the eleven cross-claims brought against YPF by co-defendant Occidental Chemical Corp.
  • Environmental Litigation:  Represented a "Fortune 20" company and its indemnitees with respect to alleged liability of more than U.S.$1.5 billion at the Kalamazoo River Superfund Site, a PCB-contaminated sediments river site.  Conducted joint defense among PRPs to action brought by the United States at an NPL-listed Superfund site spanning eighty miles of river with multiple operable units.  Managed and favorably resolved client's involvement in regulatory cleanup process, negotiating with federal and state agencies and directing consultants' investigation, modeling, and cleanup activities.  Managed client's contribution claims against codefendants and conducted private party mediation, addressing equitable allocation of liability and discovery/document production issues.  Resolved clients' liability through regulatory settlement and contribution protection from EPA and the State of Michigan.
  • Off-Shore Wind:  Advised various lenders regarding permitting and environmental matters associated with four off-shore wind farms in the waters of the United States.
  • Negotiated settlement of significant environmental liabilities within a bankruptcy context.
  • Defended and settled lawsuit brought by a major oil company in the U.S. District Court in Illinois related to clients' alleged RCRA, CERCLA, and OPA liabilities at a large oil refinery with cleanup costs estimated at U.S.$150 Million.
  • Defended and settled lawsuit brought by the State of New York in the U.S. District Court for the S.D. of NY related to clients' alleged liability at a landfill.
  • Obtained release of parent corporations for environmental liabilities of subsidiaries under U.S. v. Bestfoods doctrine.
  • Regularly manages the response of corporate clients to CERCLA § 104(e) and state-equivalent requests for information by EPA and state regulators.
  • Advised foreign corporation with respect to subsidiaries' asbestos liabilities in the U.S.
  • Addressed REACH, WEEE and RoHS EU regulatory issues in transactional contexts.
  • Whitehall Award for Exceptional Pro Bono Service, 2008
  • E. Randolph Williams Award for Outstanding Pro Bono Service, 2000 – 2005
  • "Protecting the Rights of the Homeless," The City Bar Fund (featured attorney), 2004

Andrew is the author of more than 50 articles and book chapters on environmental subjects, including the following:

  • Presenter, "Navigating a Post-Aviall World: Legal Pitfalls and Opportunities Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision in Cooper Industries v. Aviall," Environmental Law Institute, Washington, D.C., November 9, 2006
  • Presenter, "Dams and Contaminated Sediments: Examining Risks and Liabilities as Dams Age," 22nd Annual International Conference on Soils, Sediments and Water at UMass, Amherst, MA, October 18, 2006
  • Secretary: Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Environmental Law Committee, 2008 - 2011
  • Law Clerk to the Hon. James G. Glazebrook: United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, 1997 – 1999
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Member
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Member
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Member

 

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