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 this 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 via due diligence and the contract negotiations. In addition, Sarah guides this client group through the redevelopment and remediation process, including advising on compliance obligations and disputes with neighbours 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.
- Portfolio acquisition of industrial facilities Sarah led the national team conducting comprehensive environmental due diligence across 350 assets throughout Australia, each with significant potential for contamination, pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and other environmental impacts. The scope of our work included detailed legal advice on PFAS contamination, identifying the implications of the SafeGuard Mechanism, identifying key costs to be assessed (over and above that identified by the vendor) and the recent and upcoming legislative changes which may impact this business.