Peter Keays represents and counsels corporate and municipal clients in a broad range of environmental matters. Clients rely on him for the unique blend of practical guidance, effective advocacy, creative problem solving, and subject matter knowledge that he consistently brings to bear in complex environmental matters.
Pete maintains a robust CERCLA and contaminated-site practice, representing Fortune 500 companies at some of the nation’s largest and most complex Superfund sites. He represents clients in multiparty CERCLA litigation, allocations, settlement negotiations, engages with state and federal regulators on liability and cleanup issues, and helps clients navigate site remediation, cost-recovery efforts, and brownfield transactions. Pete has developed a reputation for working effectively within large PRP groups to secure practical and favorable client outcomes.
Pete has successfully litigated CERCLA cases in federal district and appellate courts and obtained favorable results for his clients in private allocation proceedings. He is experienced as a neutral arbiter, having served as legal advisor to the allocator of a billion-dollar Superfund sediment site, a role in which he issued opinions on a variety of novel and contested CERCLA questions that helped lead to a universal settlement among nearly one hundred parties.
Closely related to his CERCLA practice, Pete regularly assists clients with the purchase, sale, and management of properties with complex environmental histories, including due diligence, contract negotiation, site remediation, risk management, fill and other soil management issues, asbestos mitigation, voluntary remediation under Pennsylvania’s Act 2, and navigating New Jersey’s ISRA process.
He has extensive experience with various aspects of the Clean Water Act and Pennsylvania’s Clean Streams law, including NPDES permitting, compliance, civil enforcement, litigation, TMDLs, and engagement with EPA, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and various other regulatory entities.
In addition to his national CERCLA litigation practice, Pete represents clients in matters before the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board and in environmental litigation in federal and state courts in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He has developed a niche litigation practice representing clients in cases involving collapse sinkholes and karst geology. Pete was part of a team that obtained a precedent-setting decision protecting the Delaware River Basin from fracking and clarifying when state legislators can (and cannot) sue over actions taken by the Delaware River Basin Commission and similarly situated entities. He also has experience litigating issues related to Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment (Article I, Section 27).
Regulatory compliance and civil enforcement are another component of his practice. He counsels and represents clients in matters involving CERCLA, TSCA, RCRA, FIFRA, related regulations, and other federal, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey environmental laws and regulations. He regularly assists clients in the rapidly-evolving field of PFAS, including helping a large municipality navigate issues related to PFAS regulations, permitting, and liability as its outside environmental counsel.
Pete is heavily involved with the ABA Section of Environment, Energy and Resources (SEER), and was recently elected to its governing Council. He previously served as Chair of SEER’s 54th Spring Conference, as Chair of SEER’s In-House Counsel Committee, and as a member of the planning committee for nine SEER conferences.
Within the firm Pete is the Chair of the Hiring Committee, former Chair of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee, and a member of the Associate Development Committee. Beyond that, he regularly plans firm social events and seeks out opportunities to bring his colleagues together and mentor junior attorneys.