Nield, Gabrielle DeSantis

While engaging in the practice of commercial litigation, Charles R. Nestrud has concentrated his practice in the area of environmental regulatory law and litigation. Mr. Nestrud's regulatory practice includes air, water, solid and hazardous waste, mining, right to know, employee safety, hazardous substance remediation and cost recovery. His litigation focus includes commercial litigation as well as toxic tort litigation, environmental property damage and nuisance litigation.

For three years Mr. Nestrud was retained as special counsel to the Arkansas Department of Pollution Control and Ecology (now the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality), and as a private practitioner, Mr. Nestrud has represented clients in proceedings before the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and its Commission, the Arkansas Department of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Appeals Board, as well as numerous municipal and county planning and permitting authorities. He is currently General Counsel and a member of the Board of Directors of the Arkansas Environmental Federation, Arkansas' industrial environmental trade group, and serves as a special counsel to the State Chamber of Commerce and the Associated Industries of Arkansas on issues of environmental concern. As a consultant to trade associations and to individual clients, Mr. Nestrud has assisted with development of administrative rules and policies, and is a registered lobbyist with the Arkansas legislature. In addition to his private practice, Mr. Nestrud is a frequent speaker on emerging environmental issues in Arkansas. Mr. Nestrud is the editor of the "Arkansas Right to Know Manual," the Arkansas guide for compliance with SARA Community Right to Know, and the comprehensive "Handbook on Environmental Laws in Arkansas", which is part of the State Environmental Law Handbook Series published by Government Institutes. He is included in The Best Lawyers in America and Chambers USA as an environmental attorney, and was recently named by his peers as one of the best environmental attorneys in Arkansas in The Arkansas Times.

Mr. Nestrud graduated from the University of Iowa where he was a four-year varsity letterman and was appointed to Omicron Delta Kappa, an honorary scholarship/leadership fraternity. While at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, he was Associate Editor and Business Manager of the Arkansas Law Review. He is past chairman of the Arkansas Bar Association's Environmental Law Section, and is a member of the Natural Resources and Environment Section of the American Bar Association.

Recent Decisions

• In October 2006, Mr. Nestrud was successful in obtaining a $9.8 million judgment on behalf of El Dorado Chemical Company against Ingersoll-Rand for losses related to a fire at a chemical manufacturing facility.