Environmental Law
Full-service law firm
Don Gallo is a Environmental attorney. He has more than 28 years of legal experience and more than 40 years of experience specializing in environmental engineering. Mr. Gallo assists clients on a broad range of environmental issues. He has dealt with cases involving wetland and waterway permitting, air permitting, hazardous waste compliance, insurance remediation cost cap coverage, and transactional issues. Additionally, Mr. Gallo has been successful in assisting owners and developers by working with them on numerous brownfield development projects. He has also assisted clients in obtaining state and federal brownfield grants, zero-interest loan funding and often insurance coverage for environmental cleanup.
Mr. Gallo’s experience also includes several hundred petroleum convenient stores, bulk plants and petroleum terminal cleanups; a total of 78 dry-cleaning solvent cleanups, 38 of which are DNR closed dry-cleaner sites; and many industrial cleanups, expansions, redevelopments, and environmental regulatory compliance.
Mr. Gallo’s experience also includes several hundred petroleum convenient stores, bulk plants and petroleum terminal cleanups; a total of 78 dry-cleaning solvent cleanups, 38 of which are DNR closed dry-cleaner sites; and many industrial cleanups, expansions, redevelopments, and environmental regulatory compliance.
- Petroleum Marketers
- Liquefied Natural Gas Facilities
- Polyurethane Manufacturers Facilities
- Foundries
- Dry Cleaners & Laundries
- Breweries
- Railyard Cleanups
- Metal Plating
- Solid Waste Management & Recycling & Quarries
- Aggregate Surface Mines & Quarries
- Metal Smelters
- Water Adaptive Management & Water Quality Trading
- Historic Community Landfills
- Land Conservation, Management & Associations
- Pre-Case Pre-Stress Concrete Manufacturers
- Tanneries
- Food & Agriculture Operations
- Asphalt Plants
- Chemical Manufacturers
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Client Successes
01
Obtained insurance approval to cover remedial costs, demolition, and asbestos/lead abatement costs of over $500,000 to clean up a former dry cleaner in Green Bay. The site is located in the middle of an area currently experiencing a resurgence of commercial growth. We prepared a claim to insurance to cover costs to demolish the large building to provide access for removal of nearly all of the contamination. The property saw significantly increased marketability.
02
Recovered insurance award of nearly $900,000 to cover remedial costs and attorney’s fees for a gasoline spill. We used forensic fingerprinting to establish the amount of gasoline from previous spills versus a new spill eligible under the insurance policy.We negotiated the allocation of 65/35, where insurance agreed to cover 65% of the remedial costs attributable to the recent spill. The other 35% was under a prior spill covered by PECFA.
03
Negotiated a remediation agreement between our client and a national non-profit organization seeking to redevelop a highly contaminated but commercially valuable site. The buyer wanted the dry cleaning solvent impacts to be cleaned up to higher standards than the state otherwise required. The state dry cleaning fund reimbursed costs of $500,000, but we assisted the buyer in securing a brownfield grant for$388,000 for them to remove considerably more contamination. The client was then able to construct a highly visible and thriving retail store.
Community Involvement
- Member, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce Environmental Committee
- Member, Waukesha County Business Alliance Infrastructure Committee
- Member, Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce
- Member, Mayor’s Club – Tom Barrett
- Board Member, Clean Water Association for Lake Country
- Member, Farmer’s for Lake Country
- Member, Steer Committee for Oconomowoc Adaptive Management Program
- President, Tall Pines Conservancy
- President, Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful/Greening Milwaukee
Most recent work
2019 Leader in LAW
2019 Leader in the Law Recipient by Wisconsin Law Journal
AV Preeminent
AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™
MKE Lifestyle
MKE lifestyle Environmental Game Changers
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Education
Don P. Gallo, Attorney
J.D., cum laude, Marquette University Law SchoolM.S.C.E., The University of AkronB.S.C.E., with honors, Tri-State College of Engineering
Education
John Schneider, Attorney
B.A. Economics U.W. Madison 2019
J.D. Marquette University Law School 2023