Eric J. Murdock

Head of Hunton Andrews Kurth’s administrative law team, Eric is respected for his business-minded approach to environmental compliance and risk management. Eric has 30 years of experience advising clients on compliance matters, managing environmental aspects of business transactions, and litigating a wide range of environmental matters, including defense of enforcement actions, challenges to environmental permits, contractual disputes regarding environmental indemnities, challenges to administrative rulemakings and actions for recovery and allocation of costs for environmental cleanups.

Eric’s practice encompasses all major environmental regulatory programs, including the Clean Water Act (CWA), Clean Air Act (CAA), CERCLA, RCRA, NEPA, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and other resource and wildlife protection laws.

Enforcement and Litigation

• Represented an electric utility company in defense of permit issued by the US Army Corps of Engineers for major new transmission line project in lawsuits asserting claims under NEPA, CWA and National Historic Preservation Act. Successfully opposed motions for preliminary injunction.
• Counsel for an electric utility company in defense of citizen suit enforcement actions asserting claims under CWA and RCRA related to coal ash management. Successfully moved for dismissal of CWA claims.
• Represents electric utility in connection with investigation and remediation of former generating facility site and associated investigation and remediation of river sediments.
• Represents electric utility company in enforcement actions related to stormwater management.
• Represents waste management company in multiple cases involving allocation of environmental cleanup liability.
• Served as lead counsel to an energy company in litigation raising claims under NEPA, ESA, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act seeking to set aside Presidential Permit for generation tie line connecting wind generating facility in Mexico to the electric grid in California.

Transactional Matters

• Advised tax equity investors on environmental diligence and risk management related to protected wildlife for dozens of successful wind and solar energy projects across the United States.
• Negotiated agreements to allocate environmental liabilities and secured certification of completion of remediation under state voluntary cleanup program for major mixed-use development project.
• Supervised environmental due diligence and negotiated and drafted environmental agreements for dozens of real estate transactions and commercial financings.
• Negotiated numerous multilateral agreements for the transfer of air emission credits.

Compliance Counseling and Administrative Process

• Represents electric utility company in connection with CERCLA investigation and eventual cleanup of Anacostia River sediments.
• Regularly counsels electric utility companies regarding compliance with EPA regulation of coal ash.
• Represented a chemical manufacturing company in connection with CERCLA response actions at former chemical weapons testing and manufacturing facility in North Carolina. Persuaded EPA to discontinue expensive but ineffective groundwater pump and treat remedy in favor of targeted in situ bioremediation supplemented by monitored natural attenuation.
• Represents electric utility company on RCRA compliance, SPCC compliance, PCB management and NPDES permitting and provides counsel in support of initiatives to improve internal programs and control and mitigate enforcement risks.

• Recommended for Environment: Litigation (2018-2024), Environment: Regulatory (2018-2024) and Environment: Transactional (2020), Legal 500 United States
• Named Best Lawyer for Environmental Law, The Best Lawyers in America, 2024
• Recommended for Energy Litigation: Conventional Power (2022) and Energy Litigation: Oil and Gas (2020-2021), Legal 500 United States
• Recommended for Energy Regulation: Oil and Gas (2020-2022) and Energy Regulation: Conventional Power (2021-2022), Legal 500 United States
• Recognized as 2021 Environmental Group of the Year, Law360, January 2022

• Selected as a member of the Lawdragon Top 500 Environmental and Energy Lawyers (2021) and Lawdragon Green 500: Leaders in Environmental Law (2023, 2024)

• 2021 and 2017 Chambers USA Environment Law Firm of the Year
• Selected as a Super Lawyer for Environmental Law, Washington, DC Super Lawyers magazine, 2018–2019