Sarah Hunt Broughel
Sarah Broughel provides practical environmental and land use guidance to real estate and corporate clients, project sponsors, and lenders. She has more than 20 years of experience helping clients mitigate environmental risk in real estate, private equity/M&A, and financing transactions. Sarah counsels clients on environmental compliance, hazardous waste site cleanup, brownfields redevelopment, land use, and permitting. Her litigation and administrative practice includes environmental, governmental enforcement, and zoning matters.
Sarah’s areas of expertise include hazardous waste, solid waste, air emissions, wastewater discharge, vapor intrusion, toxic chemicals, emerging contaminants, climate risk, sustainability, environmental insurance, mold, asbestos, lead paint, transportation, zoning, tidelands, wetlands, endangered species, MEPA, and land protection.
Her clients range from real estate developers to large, national financial institutions, including Gordon Brothers Finance Company, Bank of America, US Trust, Millipore, JP Morgan Chase, Windjammer Capital Partners, Crystal Financial, The Hanover Insurance Group, Oxford Properties Group, Riverside Partners, Suffolk Construction, New Heritage Capital, and John Hancock Financial Services.
To learn more about our Real Estate practice, please click here.
Representative Engagements
- Advised property owners on environmental risk mitigation in anticipation of disposition and redevelopment of urban industrial facilities.
- Advised prospective purchaser on hazardous waste site cleanup and climate-related liabilities related to redevelopment of coastal oil terminal.
- In connection with credit facility, advised financial services client on environmental and permitting matters related to the development of basketball stadium and mixed use real estate project.
- Negotiated administrative consent orders with United States Environmental Protection Agency and Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection related to alleged noncompliance with wastewater, hazardous waste, storm water, and air quality regulations.
- In connection with redevelopment of derelict shopping mall, advised client on management of hazardous building materials.
- Negotiated environmental indemnity in connection with purchase of manufacturing business with multiple contaminated properties. Post-closing, advised client with respect to risk based clean-up of chlorinated solvents and cost recovery.
- Negotiated pollution legal liability insurance coverage in connection with acquisitions of industrial facilities and brownfields redevelopment.
- Advised lenders in connection with environmental risks related to financing and foreclosure of contaminated property.
- Represented of landlords and tenants in lease negotiations with respect to environmental, sustainability, and “green building” obligations.
- In connection with waterfront real estate development, completed MEPA review and negotiated conservation and management permit under Massachusetts Endangered Species Act.
- Represented potentially responsible parties in litigation related to state and federal Superfund sites.
- Represented property owners in connection with wetlands appeals.
- Represented property owners in connection with permitting and litigation matters involving Chapter 91.
Publications and Presentations
Professional and Community Involvement
- Corporate trustee of the Trustees of Reservations. Active engagement in land conservation, coastal land conservation, and conservation restriction committees.
- Member of the Board of Directors of Massachusetts Land Conservation Trust.
Education & Credentials
- Georgetown University Law Center
- JD, 1993
- Harvard College
- BA, 1988, magna cum laude
Admissions
Massachusetts