Christopher A. Amato, Principal

Chris specializes in environmental and Indian law. He has over 30 years’ experience litigating complex environmental matters in federal and state courts at both the trial and appellate levels. His main environmental practice areas include hydrofracking, endangered species, wetlands, hazardous waste, and marine fisheries. Chris's Indian law practice includes counseling and litigation involving treaty rights, cultural resources, taxation, and sovereignty issues.

Before joining Sive, Paget & Riesel, Chris served as Assistant Commissioner for Natural Resources at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, where he provided policy direction for all DEC natural resource programs, including freshwater and tidal wetlands; stream protection; fish, wildlife and marine resources; endangered and threatened species; open space and land acquisition; and management of state-owned forest lands and wildlife management areas.

Chris previously served as Deputy Chief of the Environmental Protection Bureau at the New York State Attorney General's Office, where he was lead trial counsel and supervised the Bureau's enforcement and defensive environmental litigation in upstate New York. As Senior Litigator with the Environmental Law Division of the New York City Law Department, Chris handled major environmental enforcement cases from trial through appeal, including several complex Superfund matters. He also gained significant administrative litigation experience as Senior Attorney with the Adirondack Park Agency and as a staff attorney with the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Chris has served as Environmental Counsel to the Onondaga Nation and has represented the Tuscarora, Cayuga, and Tonawanda Seneca Nations on treaty rights, cultural resource, taxation and sovereignty issues. He argued a treaty fishing rights case before the New York Court of Appeals and represented the Haudenosaunee Standing Committee on Burial Rules and Regulations in the infamous Kennewick Man case before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Chris also served as lead counsel in a toxic tort class action on behalf of Mohawk citizens exposed to PCBs in fish from the St. Lawrence River.

Areas of Practice

• Indian Law
• Hydrofracking
• Solid and Hazardous Waste
• Endangered Species
• Wetlands
• Marine Fisheries

Affiliations/Activities

• Admitted to practice in New York State, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.
• Provides pro bono representation for the AIDS Council of Northeastern New York and the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York.
• Has worked as a fisheries biologist with the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, as a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and as a professional kayaking guide on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.

Education

• Albany Law School, J.D. 1981
• Skidmore College, BA 1978

Publications

• Christopher A. Amato, DEC’s Indian Nation Policy: Opening a New Era of State/Tribal Cooperation, 20 Env. L. In N.Y. 151 (2009).
• Christopher A. Amato, Standing Downwind: Vermont’s SEQRA Challenge to International Paper’s Tire Test Burn, 18 Env. L. In N.Y. 37 (2007).
• Christopher A. Amato, Haudenosaunee Hunting and Fishing Rights in New York State, 8 Govt. Law and Policy J. 47 (2006).
• Christopher A. Amato, Using the Courts to Enforce Repatriation Rights: A Case Study Under NAGPRA in Legal Perspectives on Cultural Resources (J.R. Richman and M.P. Forsyth, eds., AltaMira Press (2004).
• Christopher A. Amato, Speaking With One Voice: Elements of Successful State/Tribal Collaboration in Environmental Enforcement, 17 Natl. Env. Enf. J. 3 (2002).
• Christopher A. Amato, Digging Sacred Ground: Burial Site Disturbances and the Loss of New York’s Native American Heritage, 27 Col. J. Env. L. 1 (2002).
• Christopher A. Amato and Robert Rosenthal, Endangered Species Protection in New York After State v. Sour Mountain Realty, Inc., 10 N.Y.U. Env. L. J. 117 (2001).
• Peter H. Lehner and Christopher A. Amato, The Role of the Attorney General in Environmental Enforcement, 11 Env. L. In N.Y. 37 (2000).
• Christopher A. Amato and Michael Surgan, E-Poison: New York’s Experience Battling Illegal Pesticide Sales on the Internet, 15 Natl. Env. Enf. J. 3 (2000).

Clients and Representative Litigation: Indian Law

• Served as environmental counsel to the Onondaga Indian Nation
• Represented Onondaga Nation in successful federal court action to compel federal and state consultation on Superfund site remedy and for recognition of Nation as natural resource trustee under CERCLA
• Served as lead counsel in class action lawsuit against corporate polluters on behalf of Mohawk Indians residing on Mohawk territories in the United States and Canada who were exposed to defendants’ PCBs
• Served as counsel to Cayuga and Tonawanda Seneca nations concerning cultural resource, sovereignty and treaty rights issues
• Argued treaty fishing rights case on behalf of Tuscarora fisherman before New York Court of Appeals
• Represented the Haudenosaunee Standing Committee on Burial Rules and Regulations as amicus curiae before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the Kennewick Man case appeal
• Served as lead counsel in first joint federal court action by State and Indian nation under RCRA imminent and substantial endangerment provision to compel hospital cleanup of illegal medical waste dump on reservation
• Commenced joint RCRA imminent and substantial endangerment action with St. Regis Mohawk Tribe against corporate polluter regarding PCB-contaminated site adjoining reservation
• Served as lead counsel in first joint federal court action by State and Indian nations under NAGPRA to compel repatriation of human remains and artifacts removed from Indian burial site

Clients and Representative Litigation: Environmental Law

• Served as lead counsel for State of Vermont in lawsuit challenging burning of tire-derived fuel by New York paper mill
• Supervised joint state/EPA Clean Air Act enforcement cases against Mid-west power plants to compel compliance with New Source Review provisions
• Served as lead counsel in first enforcement action brought pursuant to New York Endangered Species Act
• Won permanent injunction after trial closing asphalt plant with long history of air pollution and water pollution violations
• Handled multiple enforcement cases against pesticide companies for illegal sales of restricted use pesticides over the Internet
• Litigated major federal court CERCLA cost recovery and natural resource damage actions against Fortune 500 companies
• Served as lead counsel in successful prosecution of chemical company and individual corporate officers under CERCLA for contamination of groundwater
• Won permanent injunction closing chemical repackaging facility with history of illegal dumping of hazardous waste into East River

Faculty/Instructor Positions:

• New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Continuing Legal Education: Instructor, Tribal and State Jurisdictional Issues Concerning Natural Resources
• New York State Office of the Attorney General: Instructor, Procedure, Law and Strategy for Obtaining Injunctive Relief in Environmental Cases
• U.S. Department of Justice, National Advocacy Center: Instructor, Governmental Consultation With Indian Tribes
• Columbia University School of Law: Guest Lecturer, Environmental Law and Policy; New York’s Endangered Species Act
• Tribal Association for Solid Waste and Emergency Response: Lecturer, The Onondaga Medical Waste Dump: A Case Study in Successful State/Tribal Collaboration
• New York State Legislature, Continuing Legal Education Program: Instructor, The Gramly Case and the Need for New Indian Burial Site Protection Legislation in New York

Awards:

• Outstanding Service Award, AIDS Council of Northeastern New York, Inc. (2005)
• New York City Bar Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Public Service (1987)