Michael Robert Blumenthal

For more than 25 years, Michael has practiced environmental law and focuses his practice on governmental and private party litigation; white collar criminal defense; regulatory counseling and permit compliance; and assisting buyers and sellers in the acquisition, divestiture, and redevelopment of environmentally impaired properties. Michael routinely prosecutes and defends cost recovery, common law, and injunctive relief claims brought under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA/Superfund); the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); and the Clean Water Act (CWA). He defends environmental enforcement actions, Notices of Violations (NOVs), and Information Requests initiated by the state and federal government for purported violations of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ohio EPA (OEPA), and Ohio Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations (BUSTR). His environmental compliance practice includes assisting manufacturers in negotiating environmental permits with state and federal governments. He oversees emergency response and removal actions and develops long-term cleanup agreements with both the state and federal government in bringing these sites to closure or a “No Further Action” status. Additionally, he routinely represents developers in site acquisition and redevelopment of Brownfield properties, ranging from overseeing environmental due diligence to developing acceptable cleanup standards with the EPA and OEPA in obtaining site closure letters (NFAs) and covenants not-to-sue. His practice also includes representing municipalities in obtaining grant money and low-interest loans from state and federal Brownfield programs. Notably, Michael is a former Ohio Assistant Attorney General in its Environmental Enforcement Section. In that role, his primary responsibility was to enforce state and federal EPA regulations. While with the Attorney General’s Office, Michael also helped launch and develop Ohio’s Underground Storage Tank Program and was one of the principal authors of BUSTR. He also developed eligibility and claim guidelines for Ohio’s Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Release Compensation Board (PUSTRCB) regulations relating to payment of state funds associated with underground storage tanks. He routinely participates on various OEPA and BUSTR rulemaking committees. Michael previously served as a founding partner of Waxman Blumenthal in Cleveland. He is currently a member of the board of trustees of both Stella Maris, Inc. and Fresh Start, Inc., nonprofit corporations focused on providing alcohol and chemical dependency treatment and mental health services to the indigent and homeless.