Sarah Mansfield is a Partner in HWLE’s Sydney Environment and Planning group and is one of Australia’s leading experts in contamination, waste and pollution law.
Sarah’s broad practice spans advisory work, transactional matters, enforcement actions and disputes.
For more than 17 years, she has regularly advised and acted for government entities, airports, land owners, developers, manufacturers, waste facilities, environmental consultants and financial institutions.
Sarah’s work, and that of the teams she leads, reflects technical excellence and a commitment to exceptional client service. She is highly skilled in delivering clear, client-focused solutions to complex legal problems, advocating effectively for clients in disputes, and providing strategic advice that genuinely supports clients in achieving their objectives.
Expertise
Experience
- Major Transport Providers Sarah is this client group’s go-to advisor for all matters relating to contamination, waste, and pollution. Her extensive experience includes advising on PFAS, unexpected finds during construction, statutory reporting obligations, incident management, EPA regulation and liability for contamination. In addition, she has represented her clients in a range of negotiations, including those relating to regulatory action, transactions and disputes.
- Leading Property Developer Sarah is a trusted advisor to a leading property developer, together with its institutional investors, on the risks and liabilities associated with acquiring land affected by contamination. Sarah assists this client group to mitigate risk, including during the due diligence and contract negotiation phase. In addition, Sarah guides this client group through the redevelopment and remediation process, advising on compliance obligations and disputes with regulators, neighbours and contractual counterparties related to contamination, pollution and waste.
- Waste industry Sarah routinely advises and represents owners and operators of waste facilities on the closure, sale and redevelopment of former waste facilities, statutory compliance issues, and claims involving landfill gas, PFAS and subsidence. Her clients in this sector span both the public and private sectors.
- Airport Lessee Company Sarah has advised this client on a range of environment and planning law issues, including in relation to legacy PFAS contamination, pollution incidents, tenant negotiations, reforms to the Airports (Environment Protection) Regulations 1997, planning pathways for future airport development and amendments to its Master Plan and Environmental Strategy.