Tom Van Wyngarden

Practice focus

• Defense of claims involving alleged violations of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Clean Air Act (CAA) and Risk Management Plan (RMP), the Clean Water Act (CWA), and the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act (PMPA)
• Defense of alleged workplace safety violations
• California’s Proposition 65 and Unfair Business Practices Acts
• Responding to Process Safety Management (PSM) and Program Quality Verification (PQV) investigations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Air Quality Management District (AQMD) and other state regulatory agencies

Trusted on high-stakes environmental issues

Clients repeatedly trust Tom to guide them through situations with potentially severe business implications. Fortune 100 energy companies such as Chevron, ExxonMobil and Marathon call on him when accused of violating environmental statutes. He also represents major energy clients in regulatory investigations initiated after industrial fires, explosions or the initiation of routine inspections and successfully defends them in related litigation. For major retailers like Walmart, Tom defends claims brought under California’s Unfair Business Practices Act and Proposition 65and provides environmental compliance counseling.

Underlying all of Tom’s work is a deep understanding of the technical subject matter, his clients’ businesses and their motivations. While he seeks to resolve all matters efficiently, those factors impact the approach he takes in any given dispute. Representing an energy client before the Cal OSHA, for instance, Tom’s understanding of the client’s business made it apparent that one seemingly inconsequential citation would have required the needless annual replacement of certain valves, at a cost of millions of dollars a year. With so much at stake, he put on a vigorous defense—and won.

In addition to his significant litigation experience, Tom is also well versed in the fields of epidemiology, toxicology, contaminant fate and transport, health risk assessment, groundwater and air dispersion monitoring and drinking water distribution, having worked extensively with nationally renowned experts in these disciplines. He has provided expert testimony regarding the justification and reasonable resolution of related mass tort litigation.

• Obtained dismissal of claims made under the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act (PMPA) and, in so doing, established the application of a contractual limitations period to claims asserted under the federal statute (Connie Han v. Mobil Oil Corporation). The dismissal was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, affording the downstream energy industry the opportunity to negotiate (and limit) the time period under which PMPA claims may be asserted.

• Represented McDonnell Douglas Corp. against hundreds of personal injury and property claims brought by Rancho Cordova, Calif., residents and based on allegations that rocket engine testing in the 1950s and 1960s by defendants caused neighborhood exposures to ammonium perchlorate (solid rocket fuel) in drinking water. After vigorously litigating the matter with other defendants, a favorable, global settlement was agreed upon.

• Obtained extremely favorable settlement for our client in defense against claims that long-term occupational exposure to benzene and related chemical components of aromatic hydrocarbon and other petroleum distillate products allegedly distributed by client Unocal caused plaintiff to develop acute myelogenous leukemia (Nelson v. Unocal, et al.).
• Served as liaison counsel for other defense counsel and the court on issues concerning pretrial and trial proceedings regarding consolidated actions brought by thousands of plaintiffs that arose out of alleged drinking water contamination throughout the San Gabriel Valley in Southern California.

• Represented Westfield LLC and expeditiously settled matter involving two citations issued by Cal OSHA based on allegation that gas lines were improperly cut and capped during construction activities. One citation was withdrawn, and the other “serious” citation was re-classified general. Within six months of settlement, the Santa Clara District Attorney, based on the same underlying event, alleged violations of the Dig Safe Act of 2016 and California’s unfair competition law. Negotiated a very favorable and expeditious settlement of all claims asserted.

• Served as lead counsel defending ExxonMobil in its appeal of 19 alleged violations of California’s workplace safety regulations, which included six “serious willful” citations issued by Cal OSHA following the highly publicized February 2015 Torrance refinery explosion. Negotiated very favorable settlement where all six willful designations were withdrawn, 11 of the 19 citations were vacated, and the classification of many of the remaining eight citations were downgraded.

• Defended Kinder Morgan Energy Partners against a class action brought as a result of the documented leukemia cluster in Fallon, Nev. The case implicated KMEP, Naval Air Station Fallon, ExxonMobil Corporation and the City of Fallon, and the cancer incidents have been the subject of congressional testimony, investigations by the Center for Disease Control and other agency investigations, extensive news coverage and an award-winning documentary. Nonetheless, obtained a dismissal at the pleading stage of the litigation.

• Speaking Engagements
  • Speaker, 2019 California Process Safety Management Seminar, Concord and Torreance, Calif., March 25 – 26, 2019
  • Speaker, 2018 California Process Safety Management Seminar, Concord and Torrance, Calif., Feb.6 – 8, 2018
  • Presenter, 2017 California Process Safety Management Seminar, Martinez and Torrance, Calif., Feb. 21 – 23, 2017
  • Co-presenter, California Process Safety Management Regulatory Seminar, Martinez and Torrance, Calif., April 26, 2016
  • Speaker, Effectively Managing Toxic Tort Litigation, June 1, 2008
  • “Environmental Litigation: Overview of the Federal CERCLA and RCRA Statutes,” Effectively Managing and Defending Toxic Tort Claims,  National Business Institute, June 1, 2008
  • “Order in the Court! A Judges Perspective on Managing Environmental Cases,” Los Angeles County Bar Association Environmental Section, Los Angeles, June 1, 2007
• Associations
  • American Bar Association
  • Defense Research Institute
  • Los Angeles County Bar Association, Environmental Section
  • Salt Lake County Bar Association