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Michael Dunning is an environmental lawyer, whose practice focuses on helping clients solve complex challenges arising from land, water, and air pollution, and he has particular depth of experience in the area of contaminated sites (aka “dirty dirt”). Mike previously served for more than a decade as an assistant attorney general for the state of Washington and acted as lead counsel on some of the state’s most challenging and complex contaminated sites and cases.
As the former section chief of the Washington Attorney General’s Hazardous Waste Cleanup section, Mike was responsible for a team that provided advice and litigation support to the state’s Department of Ecology on all aspects of contaminated sites. He offers an insider’s understanding when providing innovative and effective solutions to business, local government, and nonprofit clients in litigation, transactional, and permitting matters. Mike’s depth of knowledge on Washington’s superfund law, the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA), includes experience as an expert witness.
For clients with cleanup sites and brownfield redevelopment projects, Mike has negotiated numerous complex settlements under state and federal cleanup laws, and he has assisted clients in obtaining millions of dollars in cleanup cost funding from responsible parties, insurers, and government grants, which have allowed contaminated properties to be successfully redeveloped. Mike has pioneered a new approach to brownfield cleanup and funding for nonprofit affordable housing developers that clears traditional obstacles to contaminated site redevelopment in this underserved area.
Environmental compliance counseling and audits are also part of Mike’s practice. He assists clients in a wide range of industries in assessing compliance with environmental permits and regulations, as well as helping clients design and implement environmental management systems.
Mike’s experience includes counseling and representing clients in an array of federal and state laws and regulations. These include:
- Federal and Washington Clean Air Act (CAA) and Clean Water Act (CWA).
- Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the federal cleanup law, and Washington’s superfund law, the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA).
- Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and its Washington counterpart, the Hazardous Waste Management Act (HWMA), Washington's authorized program.
- Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and similar Washington laws that regulate chemicals in consumer products.
- Washington's solid waste management laws.
- National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and its Washington counterpart, the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA).
- Natural resource damages.
Mike represents clients in many industries, including manufacturers, food and beverage makers, technology companies, energy companies, solid waste and recycling companies, apparel makers, sports and entertainment, local governments, both for-profit and nonprofit developers, transportation companies, mining companies, natural resource companies, and agribusiness. Mike is a U.S. Army veteran, and he serves on the board of directors of the Washington Trails Association and is a past board member of the Washington Business Alliance.
