Our goal is to assist our clients to get their projects planned, built and operated on schedule, while meeting their own expectations for impacts on the environment. We help to bring these issues into the project planning process early on to achieve environmental objectives; enable cost savings; and avoid significant approval and other delays.
We have a thorough understanding of local regulatory systems and cultural sensitivities and as appropriate, we incorporate a variety of different impact assessments into the process.
The environmental permit application may require you to submit a site condition report (SCR) in order to establish baseline conditions, as you will be required to restore the land to this condition on surrender of the permit some years later after you have ceased operations. The SCR will usually consist of a desktop survey but you may need to include intrusive soil and groundwater testing if there has been a previous contaminative land use.
The complexity of your environmental permit application will be determined by your process or business type. Scoping the work required at the outset is the key to preparing a successful application. Even if you would prefer to put the environmental permit application together in-house, either due to resource limitations or due to the wisdom of seeking an external review, it may be better to outsource the whole project.
If you require an environmental assessment to supplement your in-house permit application or if you have a procedural dispute with a local authority or the Environment Agency, we have the experience to assist you.
As a specialist solicitor engaged in all types of regulatory, contractual, advisory, due diligence and litigation work in the fields of waste, pollution and industrial law, I have worked with Chris Williamson many times, and have found his technical and commercial acumen in these areas to be absolutely indispensable. Whether (for example) challenging government actions or framing difficult and highly specialist ‘end of waste’ cases, Chris’ many years of in-depth knowledge and hands-on experience of commercial industrial processes and the critical nitty-gritty of practical chemistry, are in my experience an essential part of a successful legal or regulatory process – no more so than when he drove the technical agenda (and heavily influenced the legal strategy) that won the groundbreaking OSS v Environment Agency end of waste ruling in the Court of Appeal. I unhesitatingly recommend him to lawyers and commercial operators working in this area.
I have used Protreat's services over the last few years and have been delighted with the quality of work carried out. As a regulatory lawyer who often requires specialist guidance and assistance on waste management issues, I have found Chris Williamson's knowledge and understanding of environmental legalisation, second to none. I have found Protreat to be accessible, responsive, innovative and above all thorough. Consequently, I have always received a service of the highest quality and would have no hesitation in recommending them to others
I have known Chris Williamson since 2006 and he has provided environmental & waste advice to CSG on an ongoing basis since 2011. His range of consultancy services are extremely diverse including waste treatment process design & build, project finance models, business plans, joint venture agreements, planning applications, permit applications, appeals, regulatory disputes, commercial dispute resolution, End of Waste applications, quasi legal advice, tied oil schemes, new initiatives etc. I have used most, if not all of these services over the past five years to the benefit of the company so I would highly recommend Chris to any organisation requiring expert environmental support and advice in the waste and industrial sectors.
During the last 5 years I have worked with Chris Williamson on environmental permit judicial review proceedings, a permit appeal Public Inquiry, a planning permission appeal and various other cases. Chris is a very able no compromise environmental consultant who will look for many angles to defend a client's best interests in times of adversity