Michael Bontje B. Laing Associates
Mr. Bontje has been a practicing wetlands and mitigation scientist for more than 38 years. For NYCEDC, he has been involved in marine habitat assessment, and in permitting and mitigation for the New York Yankees Minor league baseball stadium in Staten Island and the Bush Terminal inter-pier solid waste fill in the Sunset Park section of Brooklyn. For other clients, Mr. Bontje has been involved in impact assessment, mitigation, restoration construction and permitting in New York City and throughout Long Island. Mr. Bontje is not only familiar with planning and permitting of freshwater and tidal systems, but has also been involved in their construction and monitoring. He has delineated or reviewed projects in both freshwater and tidal situations. Successfully completed mitigation sites range from a 0.25 acre tidal wetland site in Staten Island; an 8.0 acre freshwater site in Rockland County, New York; and a 3.2 acre freshwater site in Waterbury, Connecticut; to a 158 acre tidal wetland site in Bergen County, New Jersey. He is known for both creative and cost effective problem solving. Mr. Bontje is certified by the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) as a wetland delineator (#WDCP94MD031301333). He is also a certified professional in soil erosion and sediment control (CPESC #5347) and a certified professional in storm water quality (CPSWQ #0578).

Mr. Fleischer is the founder and principal of Capital Environmental Consultants, Inc. He is an environmental scientist and professional wetland scientist with more than 15 years of experience in the environmental consulting industry. Mr. Fleischer has conducted wetland and ecological investigations at properties throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Long Island, and the Lower and Mid-Hudson Valley. His areas of expertise include all aspects of federal, state, and local wetland analysis including freshwater and tidal delineation, specializing in comprehensive determinations for routine, atypical, and problem wetlands. Mr. Fleischer has extensive experience developing solutions and providing strategic advice for a wide range of clients and projects. He holds a BS degree in Biology from SUNY New Paltz and an MS degree in Environmental Science from Pace University.

Murtha Cullina
Ms. Olson represents clients in the area of municipal and land use litigation, general commercial and creditor’s rights litigation and probate litigation. She regularly represents municipalities, businesses, and individuals in all phases of local land-use approval and litigation. Her land use practice encompasses property boundary disputes, zoning, planning, subdivisions, inland wetlands and water pollution control authorities. She frequently has represented planning and zoning commissions and developers at both the local and appellate level. She earned her B.S. degree, with high honors, in 1985 from the University of Connecticut, and her J.D. degree, also with high honors from the University of Connecticut Law School in 1998.

Mr. Zemba is a certified ecologist, soil scientist, and hazardous materials manager. He assists private clients, federal, state, and local agencies and NGOs in natural resource management, ecological risk assessment, habitat restoration, and biodiversity conservation. Mr. Zemba has managed the Connecticut Wetland In Lieu Fee Program for Audubon Connecticut since 2016. 

Halloran & Sage
Mr. Zizka’s career has been that of a lawyer, a scientist, a town selectman, an author, and an educator. He brings all those skills to bear for his legal clients. His focus has been on issues related to government agencies (often municipalities) and on the use and development of land. He holds both bachelor of science and master of science degrees in Geology, and he mapped the glacial geology of the Columbia topographic quadrangle (an area of about fifty-five square miles) for the Connecticut DEP (now DEEP). He later spent five years as a hydrogeologist for DEP, where he helped dozens of municipalities and landowners analyze the potential consequences of different land uses. As a practicing lawyer since 1982, Mr. Zizka has advised or represented 60 different Connecticut municipalities, as well as a host of private landowners, both as counselor and litigator in state and federal courts. His cases have involved issues such as affordable housing, subdivision development, wetlands activities, nonconforming uses, zone changes, environmental pollution and inverse condemnation (“takings”). As a municipal counselor, he has drafted groundbreaking regulations and ordinances on a wide variety of topics. His written works include the widely used and well regarded, What’s Legally Required? A Guide to the Legal Rules for Making Local Land Use Decisions in the State of Connecticut (CT DEP, 7th Ed. 2004), as well as State and Local Land Use Liability (West Group), an annually updated national treatise on land use regulation. He is also a frequent speaker and lecturer on land use and environmental topics.