Keeping a legal eye on the environment

The oil spill in the Gulf has put environmental issues front and center for the American public. But for one Long Island lawyer these issues have been his focus all of his adult life.

James Rigano, 57, worked as an environmental lawyer for the U.S. government and for some of Long Island's largest firms. Now he is out on his own with an environmental law shingle on Route 110 in Melville.

Rigano left Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman, in East Meadow, July 1. He had co-chaired the firm's environmental practice group. He spent about a decade there and before that, a decade with Rivkin Radler, the Island's largest law firm, in Uniondale.

Rigano has had his environmental battles. He most recently represented Suffolk Asphalt Supply Inc. in Hauppauge. Local residents complained about noxious fumes. The state Department of Environmental Conservation recommended the plant raise the height of its smokestack to help the fumes dissipate. Rigano said the company agreed to comply.

"The approach is to solve a problem and resolve the environmental issue," Rigano said. "It's a matter of choosing an effective scientific solution and one that can work financially, and that's true whether a private party is paying or the government is paying."

Rigano earned a bachelor's degree in environmental science and a master's in biology before graduating from Hofstra Law School in 1982. He worked in the enforcement division of the U.S. Environment Protection Agency.