HAPKE LAW OFFICE PLLC

REPRESENTATIVE CLIENTS + PROJECTS

 

 

Peter represents a variety of clients ranging from individuals to large industrial corporations and national banks. Many of his clients are small and medium-sized businesses who appreciate his practical and cost-efficient approach to solving their environmental legal problems. Peter gains cost-efficiency by setting clear goals with his clients at the outset of the engagement and assembling the best team of environmental consultants for the project. In buying contaminated real property, it is important to integrate development with environmental investigation and cleanup from the project start. The client’s goals directly inform the scope of environmental due diligence. Peter’s article entitled, “A Primer on Buying and Selling Contaminated Real Estate” in the Articles section of this website provides a good summary of Peter’s approach to contaminated property transactions.

 

PROJECTS THAT PETER IS CURRENTLY WORKING ON INCLUDE:

 

DEFENDING A REGIONAL INDUSTRIAL COMPANY at the Portland Harbor Superfund Site. Peter works closely with the firm’s environmental consultants with the goal of obtaining the earliest and best possible settlement of Superfund liability. Portland Harbor is one of the most complex contaminated sediment Superfund sites in the U.S. and the cleanup costs, which will be allocated among the 100 participating parties, including Peter’s client, is estimated to range from $300 million to $1.7 billion dollars.

 

DEFENDING AND NEGOTIATING A FAVORABLE SETTLEMENT under the Washington Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) at a four party cleanup site on the Everett waterfront. Peter worked effectively with three other liable parties to reach a favorable dollar settlement, including getting a covenant not to sue and contribution protection from the State of Washington.

 

DEFENDING TWO RELATED SEATTLE MANUFACTURING COMPANIES at a multi-party MTCA cleanup site and at the Lower Duwamish Waterway Superfund Site. Peter has negotiated an Ecology order and funding and consulting agreements with the other parties at the MTCA site and has helped obtain environmental insurance coverage for the client by working closely with insurance coverage counsel. Both the MTCA site, which involves commingled contaminant groundwater plumes, and the Lower Duwamish site are multi-year projects with complex technical issues.

 

DRAFTING AND NEGOTIATING THE ENVIRONMENTAL SECTION and addendum to a purchase and sale agreement for the sale of an auto/truck stop service station in Prosser, WA. Peter worked closely with seller’s counsel and the environmental consultant doing the cleanup, and he helped obtain environmental insurance coverage to pay for the cleanup. He is now helping to ensure that the insurer reimburses the consultant for all reasonable insurance costs.

 

NEGOTIATING THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROVISIONS FOR THE SALE  of commercial property in downtown Seattle.  Besides drafting and negotiating provisions to fairly allocate expected cleanup costs and environmental risk and protect the seller from future and residual liability, Peter helped select the environmental consultant for the client and is helping to strategize a path forward to meet these environmental goals.