Beth S. Gotthelf is a shareholder based in Butzel Long’s Bloomfield Hills office, heading up the environmental, energy and land use practice. She represents and counsels a diverse mix of clients in numerous matters throughout the country. These matters include compliance and permitting; alternative energy issues; responding to an emergency; siting new facilities; state and federal civil and criminal enforcement; compliance audits; brownfields; tax incentives (obtaining, selling, purchasing); remediation of contaminated sites; Planned Unit Developments (PUDs); removal of underground storage tanks; Superfund (state and federal); insurance claims; administrative procedures; solid and hazardous waste; landfills; composting; occupational safety and health; transportation; and land use.
Ms. Gotthelf is general counsel to the Michigan Association of Metal Finishers and former general counsel to the Wayne County Brownfield Authority. She has represented the Wayne County Department of Environment on a broad variety of issues, including the wastewater treatment plant expansion, upgrade and compliance; wet weather; landfills; remediation; cost recovery; and ordinance amendments. Wayne County is the eleventh most populous county in the nation. She also represents Oakland County on matters concerning stormwater and wastewater.
Beth S. Gotthelf is a shareholder based in Butzel Long’s Bloomfield Hills office, heading up the environmental, energy and land use practice. She represents and counsels a diverse mix of clients in numerous matters throughout the country. These matters include compliance and permitting; alternative energy issues; responding to an emergency; siting new facilities; state and federal civil and criminal enforcement; compliance audits; brownfields; tax incentives (obtaining, selling, purchasing); remediation of contaminated sites; Planned Unit Developments (PUDs); removal of underground storage tanks; Superfund (state and federal); insurance claims; administrative procedures; solid and hazardous waste; landfills; composting; occupational safety and health; transportation; and land use.
Ms. Gotthelf is general counsel to the Michigan Association of Metal Finishers and former general counsel to the Wayne County Brownfield Authority. She has represented the Wayne County Department of Environment on a broad variety of issues, including the wastewater treatment plant expansion, upgrade and compliance; wet weather; landfills; remediation; cost recovery; and ordinance amendments. Wayne County is the eleventh most populous county in the nation. She also represents Oakland County on matters concerning stormwater and wastewater.
Ms. Gotthelf was very active in the State Bar of Michigan, Environmental Law Section, including serving as past Chair of the Section. She is Vice Chair of the American Bar Association ("ABA") Section of Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Law, Water Quality and Wetlands, and former Vice Chair of the Keystone Committee. She is past Chair of the Environmental Law Committee of the Oakland County Bar Association and is a past member of the State Bar Representative Assembly on behalf of Oakland County.
Ms. Gotthelf serves on the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce Leadership Committee for Transportation, and is past Chair of the Chamber’s Task Force on Water and Sewer Issues. She is a Fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation and a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America. Ms. Gotthelf is Chair of the City of Birmingham (Michigan) Brownfield Authority. She is also past Co-Chair of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Legislative Action Committee. Ms. Gotthelf was on the Federal Advisory Committee charged with recommending stormwater rules and served as a Director of the Detroit Area Commercial Board of Realtors, which covers the State of Michigan. She serves as an arbitrator for the National Arbitration Forum.
Ms. Gotthelf's charitable activities include serving as past President of the Board of Trustees for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Michigan Chapter; Chair of the Board of Trustees of Oakland Plus Foundation; Trustee of the Jewish Vocational Services; member of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, State Government Relations Oversight Committee; former member of the Board of Directors for the University Cancer Foundation; and member of the Seymour Gill Financial Women's Advisory Board.
Ms. Gotthelf was selected as one of 20 influential leaders by Michigan Lawyers Weekly - Women in Law (2010). She was listed as one of the “Top 100 Michigan Super Lawyers” by Michigan Super Lawyers (2006, 2007, 2008) and as one of the “Top 50 Female Michigan Super Lawyers” (2006 and 2008). She has received a number of awards and special recognitions, including as an emerging leader by the Detroit Regional Chamber (2003); the National Association of Metal Finishers (2002); Corp! Magazine as one of "Michigan's 95 Most Powerful Women" (2002); Corp! Magazine’s “Top 10 Business Attorneys for Southeast Michigan” (1999); and Crain's Detroit Business' 40 emerging leaders under age 40 ("40 Under 40") (1994).
Ms. Gotthelf has authored articles of national interest for the ABA on Proposed Wastewater Regulations and Underground Storage Tanks, and authored a public policy update on the Detroit wastewater ordinance amendments for Detroiter. National lectures include National Brownfields Conference (2008); Walsh College “FIN or Else: FIN 47” Seminar; Urban Land Use Planning (2007); COATING 2005 on “Doing Business in China”; the ABA Annual Meetings, Section of Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Law concerning general practice (2007) and water issues (2004 and 2002); “A Civil Reaction: Confronting Environment Problems in the New Millennium” (1997); “Annual Fundamentals of Real Estate Taxation” (1997, 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2002); and at the National Association of Metal Finishers, “Federal Wastewater Pretreatment Issues.”