Heusel

Laura Heusel joins Butler Snow with 15 years of experience as a professional engineer in both the public and private sectors. With this, Laura applies a practical mindset to help clients navigate the technical rigors of environmental regulations and find cost-effective solutions to today’s regulatory challenges.

• Environmental
• Environmental Counseling
• Environmental Litigation
• Catastrophic Events & Major Claims
• Government Relations
• Public Utilities
• Telecom, Broadband & Video

• Currently assisting clients in both litigation and regulatory burdens under CERCLA and the Mississippi Voluntary Evaluation Program.
• Conducted environmental due diligence, including review of a Superfund site, for the sale of a large transportation company. 
• Represented a client in obtaining permitting for a solid waste processing facility on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. 
• Represents clients in environmental permitting and regulatory issues under the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and RCRA.
• Represented clients in negotiations with state environmental regulatory agencies. 
• Provided technical work and project management for industrial, municipal, and government clients in projects including environmental permitting, watershed management planning, wastewater treatment system evaluations, hydrologic studies, and water quality studies.
• Led multi-disciplinary work groups developing Watershed Restoration and Protection, Source Water Protection, and Education and Outreach Plans for the water supply reservoir serving Jackson, Miss.
• Developed site specific water quality criteria for metals for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment facilities.
• Planned and conducted water quality and water quantity field studies including mixing zone studies for dischargers in coastal waters.
• Developed water quality models, wasteload allocations, and Total Maximum daily Loads as required by the Clean Water Act section 303(d).
• Represented industrial facilitates applying for Title V permits issued by state environmental agencies in Mississippi and Alabama.
• Assisted clients with environmental testing of soil, surface and groundwaters, air emissions, and ambient air.
• Represented sellers and purchasers of contaminated properties.

• Judicial extern for the Honorable Neil P. Olack, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Mississippi
• Law Clerk for the United States Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division, Washington, D.C.

• Mississippi, 2017
• Alabama, 2018

• Mississippi College School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude, 2017
  • Mississippi College Law Review, Staff (2015 – 2017); Best Case Note Award (2016)
  • Best paper awards in Legal Writing I, Appellate Advocacy, Environmental Law, Clean Water Act and Wetlands, Trial Practice, and Professional Responsibility
• University of Mississippi, M.S., Environmental Engineering, summa cum laude, 2004
• Mississippi State University, B.S., Biological Engineering, magna cum laude, 1998

• American Bar Association
• Mississippi Bar Association
• Licensed Professional Engineer, Mississippi
• Air & Waste Management Association
  • Mississippi President, 2018
  • Mississippi Vice-Chair, 2017
• American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources
  • Newsletter Subcommittee Member, 2017-2018

• Presenter, "ESG - Environmental and Property Considerations," ESG and Energizing Economic Development in Mississippi CLE, January 13, 2022.
• Author, "The Latest on Defining WOTUS: Is it All about Adjacency?," American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, Water Quality and Wetlands, October 31, 2022.
• Presenter, "Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery," 2021 A&WMA Southern Section Conference, Biloxi, MS, September 21, 2021.
• Co-Author, “Which Came First, the Standard or the Suit,” IADC, Toxic and Hazardous Substances Litigation Committee Newsletter, April 2020.
• Author, “Maui or Not? Here Comes the Latest on the Hydrological Connectivity Theory,” American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, October 7, 2019.
• Author, "Hands Out of the Cookie Jar! Recent Court Decisions Limit EPA's Non-Discretionary Duty to Regulate Storm Water for Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Jurisdiction," Water Quality and Wetlands Committee Newsletter, Vol. 15, No. 1, ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, March 2018.
• Author, “Notable 2017 Cases Under the Clean Water Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Citizen Suit Provisions,” Monthly News Roundup, Manufacture Alabama, February 2018. 
• Author, Note, The Environmental Protection Agency on Thin Air, Michigan v. EPA:  The Problem of Regulations on Remand Without Vacatur, 35 Miss. C.  L. Rev. 514 (2017).
• Author, “Cuba’s Constitutional Mandate for Environmental Protection:  Is it Enough?”  ABA Joint Newsletter of the Section’s Special Committee for Young Lawyers and the Young Lawyers Division’s Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Committee, Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 4, June 2016.
• Presenter, Update on Environmental Law Trends and Topics in 2017; Mississippi Engineering Society Winter Meeting, Jackson, MS, February 2017.
• Presenter, Update on the National Stormwater Rule and Its Implications for Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi; MS-LA-AL Environmental Law Seminar, Destin, FL, June 2014.
• Presenter, Nutrients:  Too Much of a Good Thing?  The Basics of Wastewater Nutrient Removal and Why You Need to Know About It; Mississippi Engineering Society Annual Conference, Jackson, MS, April 2013.

• Charles Clark Inn of Courts (Pupil, 2016 – 2017)
• Leadership Greater Jackson (Class of 2013 – 2014)
• Jackson Chapter President, Mississippi Engineering Society (2012 – 2013)
• Lead Civil Engineer for project trips to Pune, India and Burundi, Africa with Engineering Ministries International, planned water supply and sanitation infrastructure projects