Lee Henig-Elona is Of Counsel with GRSM in the Environmental/Toxic Tort Group. She handles federal and state court environmental litigation, defense of individual and mass toxic torts and products liability as well as commercial litigation and negligence suits brought pursuant to New York’s Labor Laws.
Lee has successfully defended manufacturing clients in mass tort claims involving allegations of phosphorus oxychloride exposure; personal-injury suits alleging defective or mislabeled products; and multiparty property damage cases involving allegedly contaminated property. She has defended claims by neighbors of chemical and coatings manufacturers, workplace exposures brought by independent contractors and mold exposure claims. In addition, Lee has defended numerous Labor Lawsuits alleging negligence and strict liability.
She also defends manufacturers of products that are alleged to be defectively designed, manufactured or sold without adequate warnings. Lee's representative cases have involved breast implant multi-district litigation; asbestos suits; exposures from pipe ruptures, defective machinery and equipment, mislabeled food products and medical devices.
Lee has extensive experience in environmental issues such as soil and groundwater contamination; landfill closure and remediation; asbestos defense; cost recovery actions; and chemical exposure in the workplace. She represents clients in cases that involve the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act; the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; the New Jersey Spill Compensation and Control Act; and New York Navigation Law. In addition, Lee has represented numerous environmental consultants in a wide range of settings.
Lee has represented clients in administrative hearings on odor, air, hazardous waste, water and noise pollution matters resulting from allegations of permit violations or administrative refusal to issue permits. In addition, she provides counseling on development issues including permitting in coastal zones, wetlands, stream encroachments and waterfront. She has been involved in many Industrial Site Recovery Act (“ISRA”) applications since the Act was promulgated in 1984. ISRA involves site investigation and remediation in connection with a “triggering event” at an industrial establishment, such as a sale of the real estate, reduction in workforce or change in company ownership. In New Jersey, the Technical Requirements for Site Remediation provides a complex regimen for investigation and remediation. Ms. Henig-Elona has also assisted numerous clients undertaking site investigations in pre-acquisition due diligence to obtain ‘innocent purchaser’ status, in response to Spill Act Directives or Administrative Consent Orders, and in voluntary actions including Brownfields redevelopment projects.
Lee represents numerous companies in the pending federal Lower Passaic River Superfund litigation involving the remedy for dioxin-contaminated sediments in the River and was one of three liaison counsel for a group of private defendants in the pending cost recovery suit brought by Occidental Chemical Corporation.
Admissions
New Jersey
New York
U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
U.S. District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit
U.S. Court of Federal Claims