About Hanson Baker Ludlow Drumheller Practices and Industries: Environmental

Hanson Baker assists individuals and private businesses in a wide range of land use and environmental matters, including resource management and clean up.  We also defend clients in regulatory enforcement actions and court proceedings regarding waste disposal issues.  

Hanson Baker attorneys have extensive experience in:

Contaminated Property Transactions
Eminent Domain
Environmental Insurance Coverage
Environmental Litigation and Appeals
Hazardous Waste Management, Enforcement and Compliance
Land Use, SEPA, GMA and Project Development
Storm Water, Wetlands and Water Resources
Superfund Site Clean Up

• Contaminated Property Transactions.   Advised and assisted businesses, individuals and municipalities in complex real estate transactions involving contaminated properties.  
  
• Contaminated Property Transactions.  Drafted environmental indemnities for buyers and sellers of contaminated properties.
  
• Contaminated Property Transactions.  Negotiated numerous matters involving governmental agencies and municipalities.
• Eminent Domain.  Represented three property owners in major acquisition in downtown Seattle by the state of Washington which resulted in multi-million dollar settlement.
• Eminent Domain.  Negotiated purchase of numerous properties on behalf of transit authority for expansion of its commuter buses and rail stations.
• Eminent Domain.  Represented individual property owner in a partial taking of his property for road widening.
• Environmental Litigation and Appeals.  Successfully appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court to reverse a $126,000 civil penalty.  Won an award of our client's attorney fees in excess of $100,000.  ETU, Inc. v. Environmental Quality Comm'n, 343 Or. 57, 162 P.3d 248 (2007).
  
• Environmental Litigation and Appeals.  Successfully represented a nationwide grocery store which found contamination while constructing an underground parking lot in the redevelopment of a fifty-year-old store in Seattle. We obtained $1 million as reimbursement for the clean up and costs of delayed construction from the adjacent landowners, including two global petroleum companies. 
  
• Environmental Litigation and Appeals.  Prepared and successfully negotiated one of only two RCRA Part B waste storage permits in Washington State, while also defending against government enforcement actions when necessary.  After our manufacturing client was penalized by the Washington Department of Ecology for RCRA violations involving the storage and disposal of chemical products used in its chemical processes, we negotiated a settlement that substantially reduced the civil penalty and created a chemical awareness program for the local fire department.
• Environmental Litigation and Appeals.  Successfully negotiated settlements for clients with EPA and cost allocations among PRPs that resulted in significant cost savings.
• Hazardous Waste Management, Enforcement and Compliance.  Assisted clients in waste characterization, management and disposal decisions, closure of waste units, and other regulated activities.
  
• Hazardous Waste Management, Enforcement and Compliance.  Represented clients involved in the storage and manufacture of chemical products and pesticides under RCRA, EPCRA, FIFRA and other federal and State environmental laws.
  
• Land Use.  Represented numerous individual owners in building permit and code compliance disputes in King County, Seattle, Bellevue and other local municipalities.
• Land Use.  Represented developers before Hearing Examiners for plat and subdivision approval.
• Land Use.  Represented property owner whose well water source was encroached upon by adjacent developer.
• Land Use.  Represented property owner in selling multi-million dollar water lots in the San Juans where there was a conflict with surveyors as to boundary lines.
• Land Use, SEPA, GMA and Project Development.  Represented companies and municipalities in land use proceedings involving permitting, zoning and comprehensive plans. 
  
• Land Use, SEPA, GMA and Project Development.  Successfully represented homeowner in curtailing the expansion of pre-existing business adjacent to our client's home.
  
• Storm Water, Wetlands and Water Resources.  Successfully represented a leading Puget Sound homebuilder in a storm water enforcement action by the Department of Ecology that avoided any civil penalties and successfully resolved claims by over 50 homeowners who intervened in the case.
  
• Storm Water, Wetlands and Water Resources.  Assisted homeowners on the Washington Coast involved in an EPA and Corps of Engineers wetlands enforcement action that preserved their right to build a home on their property.
  
• Storm Water, Wetlands and Water Resources.  Represented a non-profit environmental organization in the acquisition, preservation and creation of wetlands and riparian habitat in the Puget Sound basin.
  
• Superfund Site Clean Up.  Represented Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) at numerous Superfund sites in Washington and Oregon, such as the Commencement Bay Superfund site in Tacoma.