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Ragna Henrichs is a partner in the environmental law section at Porter & Hedges. Ms. Henrichs has concentrated her practice exclusively in the field of environmental law and has had extensive experience with remediation projects, enforcement and compliance matters, permitting and regulatory counseling. She has represented steel, chemical, oil and gas, oilfield service, real estate development, waste management companies, airlines and public utilities, in permit proceedings, including contested permit hearings, and in the defense of civil and criminal enforcement actions and citizen suits.
Her representation of potentially responsible parties in federal Superfund actions has ranged from steering committee and settlement committee service in large, multi-party cases to numerous de minimis settlements and various cost recovery actions. Her practice has also included clients involved in cleanup of contaminated sites under other programs, including the Texas Voluntary Cleanup Program.
Ms. Henrichs works with corporate and real estate clients and lenders in environmental due diligence arising out of transactions. She provides counseling to resolve issues through mechanisms such as specially tailored auditing programs, remediation and indemnity agreements, environmental insurance, environmental management systems and compliance plans.
Ms. Henrichs is listed as one of America's leading lawyers in environmental law by Chambers USA. She has been listed for more than ten years in The Best Lawyers in America, Environmental Law. She has been named a “Texas Super Lawyer” in Environmental/ Land Use Law in surveys conducted by Texas Monthly since 2003.
Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Henrichs practiced in the law department of CIBA-Geigy Limited in Basel, Switzerland (now Novartis), and was a partner at Nixon, Hargrave, Devans & Doyle (now Nixon Peabody), and a shareholder of Johnson & Gibbs, P.C. Representative Experience
- Defense of chemical manufacturer in high-profile federal RCRA enforcement action raising issues of first impression.
- Development of a regulatory compliance program for a client with operating locations in more than twenty states.
- Superfund defense and cost recovery actions.
- Wetlands delineation and permitting.
- Remediation projects involving groundwater contamination and surface water concerns, some with off-site implication, including projects under the Texas Voluntary Cleanup Program and the Texas Innocent Owner/Operator Program.
- Negotiation and litigation of environmental insurance provisions.
- Defense of EPA and state enforcement actions.
Professional / Civic Affiliations
- Martindale Hubbell AV Rated Attorney
- Chair of the Environmental Law Section of the New York State Bar Association (1990-1991)
- Member of the New York State Bar Association Section Council
- Member of the Environmental Section of the American Bar Association, the State Bar Associations of Texas and New York, and the Houston Bar Association
- Board of Directors, Legacy Land Trust
- Board of Trustees and President, Houston Delta Gamma Foundation
News
Publications
Articles
- “Federal Wetlands Jurisdiction After the SWANCC Decision,” CLE International Texas Water Law (6/1/2001)
- “Bioreactor Landfills: Long-Term Liability Issues,” Proceedings of the GRI-14 Conference on Hot Topics In Geosynthetics – 1, Geosynthetic Institute (12/1/2000)
- “Environmental Issues and the Law,” Colloquium on Industrial Ecology at the National Academy of Sciences (2/1/1992)
- “Financing Resource Recovery and Hazardous Waste Facilities in New York,” Committee on Solid and Hazardous Waste Management of the Environmental Law Section, New York State Bar Association (1/1/1981)
- “Environmental Conservation Law, Article 37, Substances Hazardous to the Environment,” Committee on Environmental Law, New York State Bar Association (1/1/1980)
Events
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