There have been legal disputes arising from the discovery of unexpected environmental pollution (including soil contamination and wastes) in the course of real property transactions, redevelopment, and other corporate activities, and also in the course of related financing. Particularly, as treating and addressing environmental pollution and wastes can incur huge expenses that sometimes amount to billions of yen, discovery of pollution often results in litigation over the burden of costs for treating and addressing such pollution among the transaction parties.

In addition, violation of environmental laws often results in criminal liability of the relevant company, its officers, etc.
Environmental legislation and regulations governing pollution including soil contamination, wastes, etc., cover a broad scope including designated hazardous substances, dioxins, oil contamination, asbestos, PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl), as well as underground installations. Also, the framework for environmental regulation and oversight is comprised of laws, ordinances, guidelines, public notices, and municipal ordinances, with new regulations established or revised on a regular basis. Therefore, a high degree of expertise is required to appropriately address relevant issues based on the latest regulations.
Our firm has abundant experience in disputes relating to pollution (soil contamination) and wastes arising from redevelopment and real property transactions across Japan.