Pete Nyquist

Practice Areas

Environment; Environmental Litigation

Career

Pete Nyquist chairs Greenberg Glusker’s Environmental Practice Group, comprised of nine full-time environmental attorneys. His practice covers an array of complex environmental litigation in federal and state court under CERCLA, RCRA, the Clean Water Act, the Hazardous Substances Account Act, and related statutory and common law claims. For example, he currently represents Union Pacific in several high-stakes environmental matters, including as lead counsel in the Omega Chemical Superfund Site litigation and a multi-party matter sited in the City of Sacramento.

In addition, Pete represents clients in a broad variety of matters involving investigative, remedial or corrective action requirements at contaminated sites, including brownfield development projects, voluntary cleanups, and regulatory agency enforcement proceedings. For example, he represents SDG&E in a multi-party matter addressing sediment contamination in the San Diego Bay from decades of shipyard and other alleged industrial activities.

His diverse counseling practice includes advising clients such as Southern California Edison in connection with the renewal of NPDES Permit No. CA0109282 (Order R9-2023-0011) for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (resulting in unanimous agency board approval), among various complex and emerging subject matter areas. Notably, this includes active involvement with evolving PFAS regulations and requirements.

Pete also serves as environmental counsel to various developer clients in Southern California, including for several of the most significant brownfield projects in the region: e.g., the 777 Front Street project in Burbank ($375 million mixed-use project at the former Zero Corporation site within the San Fernando Valley Superfund Sites), The Point in El Segundo, and the Palisades Village in Pacific Palisades. He regularly interfaces with USEPA, Cal-EPA, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, and the statewide regional water quality control boards, and has helped navigate numerous cleanup sites to “no further action” or site closure determinations. Pete has also represented clients in many administrative proceedings, appeals and writ actions challenging improper agency actions.

Pete is a former Chair of the Los Angeles County Bar’s Environmental Law Section, and remains a member of its Executive Committee. He also remains involved with the Executive Committee of the California Lawyers Association Environmental Law Section, and Co-Chaired the Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite, nationally recognized as the largest and most prestigious gathering of California’s leaders in environmental law. Pete is a proud husband and father of two wonderful adult daughters, and loves enjoying ocean and mountain life as a regular paddle boarder and skier. He somehow clings to a single-digit golf handicap.

Professional Memberships

Pete serves on the Executive Committee of the California Lawyers Association, Environmental Law Section.