Practice Areas & Industries: Miller Nash LLP

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Miller Nash LLP has a long tradition of providing excellent legal services to clients, and this tradition continues as the hallmark of the Environmental and Natural Resources Practice Group. To us, excellent service means fast response to clients, good communication, a "can-do" attitude, and knowledge and concern for our clients' businesses, as well as the highest quality of legal work.

With offices in Portland, Bend, and Prineville, Oregon, and Seattle and Vancouver, Washington, the Environmental and Natural Resources Practice Group stands ready to provide services on all aspects of environmental and natural resources litigation, compliance, and transactional matters. We strive to help clients resolve problems quickly, creatively, and cost-effectively, as well as to continually exceed their expectations. Our attorneys have strong academic backgrounds and real-life work experience: for example, one attorney in our group was an environmental manager with a Northwest port, one was an environmental trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, and another was an attorney for the U.S. Department of Interior. We have a culture of being nimble and quick in responding to clients' concerns, and we make their problems ours. We take the time to learn about our clients' businesses, and we are committed to resolving their environmental problems in a way that helps their businesses succeed. A mark of our success is the many long-term and close relationships we have with numerous clients, who have trusted us with their work over the years.

The Environmental and Natural Resources Practice Group has assisted a diverse group of clients, including manufacturing companies, shipping and port operations, financial and investment institutions, petroleum companies, chemical companies, developers, property managers, utilities, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and local governments. We have extensive experience in the following areas:

• Environmental Litigation
  • Cost allocation and contribution/cost recovery claims for environmental cleanups
  • Defense of environmental enforcement actions by state and federal governments and citizen groups
  • Insurance coverage for environmental cleanups
  • Negotiation and preparation of federal and state consent decrees and prospective purchaser agreements
• Environmental Cleanup/Natural Resource Damages
  • Remediation of contamination and brownfield redevelopment
  • Resolving environmental claims for investigations and cleanups at state and federal Superfund sites
  • Direct negotiation with state and federal agencies regarding the scope and extent of investigations and cleanups
  • Resolving Oil Pollution Act and natural resource damage claims for oil spills into navigable waters
• Environmental Matters in Business Transactions
  • Environmental assessments and due diligence, including corporate mergers, acquisitions, and asset purchases and sales
  • Contract negotiation and drafting
  • Purchase and sale of businesses and contaminated properties
• Air Quality
  • NSR and PSD applicability
  • Major and minor source permitting
  • Climate change
• Indoor Air Quality
  • Asbestos
  • Mold
  • Volatilization to indoor air
• Water Quality
  • Process wastewater and stormwater permitting
• Project and Property Construction and Development
  • Wetlands permitting
  • Habitat and riparian area permitting
  • Clean Water Act Section 401 permitting
• Water Rights
• Endangered Species, Natural Resource Damages, National Environmental Protection Act
• SEPA compliance
• Alternative fuel