Law360, New York (July 29, 2015, 11:19 AM EDT) -- A company's internal investigation into alleged environmental violations is fraught with risk, particularly for allegations involving harm to human health or the environment or involving knowing conduct. In the early stages, it is often not clear whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or a state agency is aware of the violation and whether they may be doing their own investigation. Employees having the most knowledge of events may either be whistleblowers or the supervisor of a whistleblower, both of whom may bring their own agenda to the investigation. Company policy may require or favor transparency in disclosing the results of an investigation to a government agency, in which case use of the attorney-client privilege may not always be an option....