Fred Burnside

Fred Burnside, Managing Member

Fred Burnside

 fburnside@burnsidegroup.com

Fred Burnside’s extensive experience ranges from field-level environmental investigations to the highest level of decision-making related to environmental enforcement in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Mr. Burnside is a former national director of the criminal enforcement arm of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He advised EPA leadership on hundreds of environmental enforcement cases nationwide and supervised federal agents, scientists and attorneys at 40 locations across the country. He was Special Agent in Charge of two of the 10 EPA regions (Denver and Atlanta) and served at EPA national headquarters in Washington, DC. A wetlands biologist, Mr. Burnside worked as special agent with the criminal program during his 23-year EPA career.

Due to the depth of his experience, Mr. Burnside can provide guidance to corporate officers, defense and corporate counsel regarding:

  • How the agency will view a violation or fact pattern
  • Evaluating and preparing for adverse regulatory inspections
  • Compliance problems and evaluation of compliance programs
  • Corporate responses to subpoenas, information requests and search warrants
  • Conducting root-cause or internal investigations
  • Whether a violation will be pursued as a criminal or civil action
  • What agency decision-makers to approach to present your case
  • How an enforcement action will likely proceed
  • How to maximize the client’s position in adverse circumstances

Mr. Burnside is a regular lecturer for the American Bar Association and serves on its Environmental Enforcement and Crimes Committee. He has written extensively on environmental crimes enforcement and the U. S. EPA environmental crimes program.

Education
Master of Science in Zoology, University of Arkansas 1981
Bachelor of Science in Education, Biology Major, Henderson State University 1977
OSHA Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) certification

pdf Fred Burnside’s Bio/CV