Patrick G Rowe

Patrick focuses on litigation and transactions involving environmental, natural resources, toxic tort and real property issues. He has extensive experience representing clients in court and before administrative agencies, including the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. He has particular expertise in matters involving contaminated properties and water quality issues. Patrick emphasizes big picture strategies in order to prevent problems before they occur, while working in a focused, efficient manner to solve problems after they arise.

His practice includes:

• Water quality permitting
       Clean water act
       NPDES and 404 permits
       Oregon WPCF permits

• Brownfield/contaminated properties 
    Regularly serves as counsel to purchasers and sellers of contaminated properties regarding environmental liabilities under federal and state law.

• Natural Resources/Food Safety/Agriculture
    Advising clients regarding natural resource law issues, such as forestry and grazing practices and clients in the food and beverage industry regarding regulatory compliance

Representative Work

• Business Disputes
Represented trucking company in lawsuit against national financial institution; successfully recovered remedial action costs incurred in cleaning up property contaminated by past owners/operators.

Represented an entity being sued by a former member for, among other items, wrongful expulsion from the LLC, breach of contract and unjust enrichment.  Plaintiff sought in excess of $6 million in damages. After a week long arbitration before a panel of three arbitrators, Patrick obtained a complete defense decision, and a six figure award on counterclaims brought on behalf of his client.

• Brownfields / Transactions Involving Contaminated Properties
Represent Oregon developer regarding its purchase, development and potential sale of a large waterfront property that was contaminated by operations of former paper mill owner/operator.

Represented a major shipping company in one of the largest Brownfield acquisitions in Oregon history.  The client acquired property within a Superfund site for redevelopment.  The firm advised the client with respect to due diligence, obtaining innocent purchaser status, and retaining non-liable status during redevelopment activities.  We also drafted and negotiated related contracts (Purchase and Sale Agreement, retention of general contractor), and in related wetlands, tax abatement and other regulatory issues. Continue to advise this entity regarding expansion of its facility and in negotiations for the purchase and development of other properties around the Northwest.

We represent a County government that acquired a large contaminated property via tax foreclosure, providing counsel regarding liability protection and remediation of the property.

•  Citizens Suit Defense
Represented a landfill operator in the defense of a citizen suit action based on the Clean Water Act and RCRA, resulting in settlement of the action on favorable terms and financed with insurance funds.

Have represented multiple parties defending citizen lawsuits alleging violations of Clean Water Act NPDES stormwater permits.

•  Cost Recovery / Contribution Defense
Currently representing an individual who owned a property upon which tannery waste had been deposited many years prior to his purchase, but which was not discovered until several years after he sold the property. A developer that purchased the property to construct a subdivision sued our client and others in the chain of title after our client, as well as involved lenders and the tannery owner.  In a protracted litigation with significant financial exposure, Patrick successfully negotiated favorable settlements with the plaintiff, and with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality in a parallel action.  He continues to represent this individual during a third party's appeal of the settlement with DEQ.

•   Food Safety
Provided counsel to a bottled water company regarding labeling requirements.

•  Health Care Facility Construction and Cost Recovery
The firm first advised a community hospital on a fast track design/build remedial system in conjunction with construction of a new facility.  The property was heavily contaminated by fuel releases from an adjacent gas station.  The firm sued the Responsible Party and obtained full recovery of past costs and a mechanism to recover future costs.  Patrick continues to advise the hospital on ongoing remediation and cost recovery issues.

•  Industrial Groundwater Contamination
The firm represented Cascade in Boeing v. Cascade at trial and on appeal in the 9th Circuit, and then represented Cascade Corp. in City of Portland v. Boeing and Cascade, a $20 million claim for damages to the Portland well field.  Patrick continues to represent Cascade in a $30 million, multi-decade clean up and ongoing remedial cost allocation issues with Boeing.

•  Landfill Regulation
Assisted a landfill owner/operator with landfill permitting, regulatory and compliance matters.  

•  Regulatory Enforcement Defense
Represented numerous clients defending enforcement actions brought by EPA and the Oregon DEQ, including an international seafood company contending with alleged Clean Air Act violations and an Oregon based trucking company defending allegations of Clean Water Act violations due to a tanker truck spill.

•  Remedial Action
Represented a former bulk fuel facility operator in negotiations with the property owner and Washington Department of Ecology to propose and perform a remedial action plan to clean up petroleum releases.  The site was complicated by the fact that it sits on the Tacoma Coal Gasification Superfund Site and that the coal tars form part of the confining unit between the upper and lower aquifers. 

•  Superfund
Represented an international paper products company in obtaining a favorable settlement of a claim for contribution brought under federal Superfund law at the Kalamazoo River Superfund Site. 

•  Toxic Tort
Successfully defended many clients in asbestos and other toxic tort litigation, including manufacturers and distributors of boilers, building supplies, apparel and other asbestos containing products, and the defense of claims arising from alleged exposure to silica and formaldehyde.

•  Water Rights
Advised numerous clients regarding water rights issues, including representation of an Eastern Oregon property owner involved in an Oregon Department of Water Resources administrative adjudication brought by a neighbor seeking to terminate the client's water rights based on the alleged non-use by a prior owner