Environmental Law

Practice Area Menu
  • Overview
  • Team

McAfee & Taft’s Environmental Practice is an excellent resource for all facets of environmental law that arise in the normal course of business and corporate transactions of all kinds. The firm’s lawyers include recognized experts in the field that draw on prior careers in the fields of regulation and policy development, industrial permitting and compliance, and environmental remediation. McAfee & Taft’s expertise has proven especially adaptable to recent developments in environmental and energy law, including regulation of nanotechnology manufacturing, and the profound impacts of greenhouse gas emission regulation, including uncertainty in future power infrastructure and water resources, as they effect current business models.

Representative Experience

  • Provides counsel to clients subject to regulation regarding emissions of air pollutants including greenhouse gases, solid and hazardous waste management, water/stormwater discharges, wetlands development and NEPA.
  • Representation of parties to environmental real estate transactions and corporate acquisitions.
  • Representation of affected parties in state and federal enforcement actions, rulemaking, and adjudicatory proceedings pursuant to state and federal air, hazardous waste, solid waste, water/stormwater, emergency planning, underground and above ground storage tank, wetlands, risk-based environmental remediation, groundwater and surface water use, mining, and worker safety regulatory programs.

Representative Clients

  • Aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facilities
  • Metal fabrication and coatings facilities
  • Weapons destruction contractors for the Department of the Army
  • Ethanol manufacturing plants
  • Oil and natural gas exploration and production
  • Oil and natural gas processing
  • Oil field services facilities
  • Construction sites
  • Concentrated animal feeding operations
  • Hazardous waste fuel waste blenders
  • Hazardous waste combusting cement kilns and incinerators
  • Oil and other hazardous material recyclers
  • Solid waste landfills
  • Power plants
  • Steel mills
  • Petroleum marketers, distributors and bulk storage plants
  • Developers of contaminated property under voluntary cleanup
    regulations and Brownfields
  • PRP entities for Superfund sites (remediation plan development
    and liability allocation)
  • Automobile, pulp and paper, specialty chemical,
    pharmaceutical, pesticide, fertilizer and nanotechnology manufacturers
  • Wood treaters
  • Metal, solid waste, and chemical recycling facilities
  • Quarry operations and gravel mills
  • Demolition contractors
  • Hospitals
  • Bakeries
  • Real estate developments
  • Convenience stores
  • Underground and above ground storage tank owners and operators
  • Wind turbine manufacturers
  • Waste tire recyclers
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Vickie J. Buchanan
Shareholder, Practice Group Leader, Industry Group Leader
(405) 552-2331
Jeremiah L. Buettner
Shareholder
(405) 552-2241
Thomas P. Goresen Jr.
Associate
(405) 552-2279
J. Derek Hardberger
Shareholder, Practice Group Leader
(405) 552-2327
Robert J. Joyce
Shareholder
(918) 574-3040
Garry L. Keele, II
Shareholder
(918) 574-3037
Jennie M. Mook
Associate
(405) 270-6087
Ross Plourde
Shareholder
(405) 552-2277
Jennifer B. Puckett
Associate
(405) 270-6069
Jeff L. Todd
Of Counsel
(405) 552-2269
J. Todd Woolery
Shareholder, Practice Group Leader, Industry Group Leader
(405) 552-2333

Paralegals

Annette Strother
Paralegal
(405) 228-7631
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Articles

Environmental quality inspector

Amidst pandemic, EPA issues enforcement guidance

McAfee & Taft LINC |
Environmental worker looking over report

Environmental compliance during COVID-19 pandemic

McAfee & Taft LINC Alert |

Do you have enough water?

McAfee & Taft AgLINC |

BLM issues proposed regulations concerning hydraulic fracturing

McAfee & Taft RegLINC |

New rule governs designation of critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act

McAfee & Taft RegLINC |

FWS guidelines designed to minimize impact of wind energy development projects on wildlife

McAfee & Taft RegLINC |

Natural gasoline pipeline spills prompt DOJ to lodge consent decree against owner, operator

McAfee & Taft RegLINC |

Court dismisses toxic tort case arising from hydraulic fracturing activities

McAfee & Taft RegLINC |

Advisory bulletin issued to natural gas cast iron distribution pipelines

McAfee & Taft RegLINC |

EPA proposes national uniform emission standards for heat exchange systems

McAfee & Taft RegLINC |

EPA lowers proposed emission limits for chrome electroplating facilities

McAfee & Taft RegLINC |

Guardians of Oklahoma’s environment

Oklahoma Bar Journal - Volume 83, No. 5 |

Oops! My client had a spill – what do I do now?!

Oklahoma Bar Journal - Volume 83, No. 5 |

Recent developments under the Clean Water Act: Proposed rule modifies cooling-water intake unit requirements

McAfee & Taft RegLINC |

PHMSA publishes ANPRM: Safety of gas transmission pipelines

McAfee & Taft RegLINC |

Supreme Court prohibits federal common law nuisance suits seeking limits on carbon dioxide emissions

McAfee & Taft RegLINC |

Winds of change

McAfee & Taft AgLINC |

New guidance on identifying waters protected by the Clean Water Act

McAfee & Taft RegLINC |

U.S. Department of Transportation unveils pipeline safety initiative

McAfee & Taft RegLINC |

Proposed rulemaking for stormwater management under the Clean Water Act

McAfee & Taft RegLINC |

Safety practices for transmission pipelines

McAfee & Taft RegLINC |

EPA issues draft implementation plan

McAfee & Taft RegLINC |

The expanding reach of CERCLA

McAfee & Taft RegLINC |

Increased focus on the General Duty Clause of the Clean Air Act

McAfee & Taft RegLINC |

EPA proposes to add sixteen new chemicals to the toxics release inventory list

McAfee & Taft RegLINC |
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At The Podium

Sackett v. EPA: Defining Jurisdictional (and Wetland) Boundaries

Mineral Lawyers Society of Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City, OK | September 21, 2023

Impact of West Virginia v. EPA on Chevron Doctrine

Mineral Lawyers Society of Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City | October 20, 2022

Superfund Redevelopment (Moderator)

2018 Oklahoma Brownfields Conference
Oklahoma City, OK | September 27, 2018

Environmental Law Update

Mineral Lawyers Society of Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | February 15, 2018

The Moving Landscape in Environmental Law: What it means to business

2017 Corporate Counsel Seminar
Oklahoma City, OK | December 7, 2017

Environmental Claims in Bankruptcy

Environmental Federation of Oklahoma’s 25th Annual Meeting and Trade Show
Tulsa, Oklahoma | October 13, 2016

Environmental Law Update: Significant New Developments Affecting the Oil and Gas Industry

Oklahoma City Mineral Lawyers Society
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | September 17, 2015

The Intersection of Environmental Law and Bankruptcy

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | February 27, 2015

Current Trends in Contractual Risk Transfer

RIMS, Central Oklahoma Chapter Meeting
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | March 8, 2013

New Source Performance Standards (NSPS), Subpart OOOO (a.k.a. Quad O) and ‘aggregation’ under major source air permitting

Finding The Right Mix Program
Tulsa, Oklahoma | 2013

New Records Requirements for Pipeline Integrity — Costs and Underwriter Reactions

Marsh and McAfee & Taft 8th Annual Midstream Roundtable
Tulsa, Oklahoma | November 7, 2012

Regulatory Update: A compendium of recent EPA, OSHA and DOT hot issues impacting upstream and midstream energy operations

Marsh 2012 Denver Energy Forum on Risk Management
Denver, Colorado | October 23, 2012

Corrosion and Punishment Forum

CORROSION 2012, sponsored by NACE International
Salt Lake City, Utah | March 14, 2012

‘Coal Ash: The New Reality’

Environmental Federation of Oklahoma’s 19th Annual Meeting
October 1, 2010

Air Permits, Regulations and Requirements under the Clean Air Act

NBI Environmental Law from A to Z Webcast
Online | 2010

Clean Air Act Panel

Environmental Issues in Region 6: Recent Developments and Hot Topics Seminar
Dallas, Texas | January 1, 2010

Environmental Law Update

Tulsa County Bar Association - Environmental Law Update Seminar
Tulsa, Oklahoma | 2008

Environmental Update

Oklahoma Bar Association Recent Developments Seminar
2006, 2007

Environmental Reporting & Record-Keeping

Document Retention and Destruction in Oklahoma Seminar
2005

Tribal Sovereignty & Environmental Law

Current Issues in Storm Water Regulation Seminar
2004

Clean Air Act Update Panel

American Bar Association
2002, 2003, 2004

Evidence in Compliance & Enforcement Matters

Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality Inspector Workshop
2000