Sean McGovern is a shareholder in the Environmental Services and the Energy & Natural Resources groups of Babst Calland. Mr. McGovern’s practice involves counseling clients on a variety of federal and state regulatory issues related to coal mining, as well as conventional, coal bed methane, Marcellus, Utica and other unconventional shale gas well development, production, midstream activities, storage and transportation in the Appalachian Basin. He counsels these clients on a wide range of environmental matters, including water withdrawal, erosion and sediment controls, various permitting requirements, the disposal of produced fluids and other wastes generated by these industries, in addition to other issues related to pooling, unitization, and royalties. He regularly handles industrial wastewater, waste management, and storage tank issues, as well as site reclamation and remediation. Mr. McGovern also has experience with environmental transactions, including due diligence activities, and the river basin commissions located in Pennsylvania.
Background
Mr. McGovern graduated cum laude from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2001, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Public Health in Environmental Science and Engineering with a focus in mathematical modeling and was selected for membership in Phi Beta Kappa. For the two years prior to attending law school, he was an environmental scientist at a consulting firm located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, assisting with environmental risk assessments and exposure modeling, as well as drafting federal environmental regulations.
In 2006, Mr. McGovern graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Law at Chapel Hill, earning his J.D. While in law school, Mr. McGovern was a member of the Holderness Moot Court’s Environmental Negotiation Team that won the Robert R. Merhige, Jr. National Environmental Negotiation Competition in 2006. In addition, he was an Articles Editor for the law school’s Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation, as well as a Dean’s Fellow Counselor and the Chair of the Student Body Association Leadership Speaker Series.
Prior to joining Babst Calland, Mr. McGovern worked as an associate for a Harrisburg law firm where his practice included food industry, trademark, international and Internet law.
