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Phillip M. Bender

Phil has been helping governmental, corporate and individual clients navigate the complexities and challenges of environmental issues for almost 30 years. His practice is devoted to advising, negotiating and litigating issues involving water quality, discharges and water rights; Superfund sites; real estate-transaction and operations related environmental issues; civil and criminal environmental enforcement by local, state and federal agencies; environmental permitting, including wetland removal/fill permits, Clean Water Act NPDES permits, Title V air emissions permits, local and state environmental permits, and esoteric administrative processes such as those involving Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area permits, for example; Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and Toxic Substances Control Act issues, including RCRA compliance and TSCA Inventory listings; facility siting, including the siting and development of green technology and recycling technology facilities; and environmental compliance strategy.

The breadth of Phil’s environmental and regulatory expertise is complemented by the depth of his litigation experience. Phil has represented clients in suits arising from waste, wastewater, and operational spills and releases of various substances and contaminants; environmental permitting, contamination and compliance matters; groundwater extraction, use, and contamination; Superfund site liability and natural resources damages; tribal mining allotments and related mining rights; and other complex, multi-party disputes. Phil has appeared before state and federal courts and administrative tribunals throughout the country, most recently in Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado, Utah, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio.

Prior to helping found Ring Bender LLP in 2013, Phil was a partner with Bateman Seidel Minor Blomgren Chellis & Gram and an associate with K&L Gates LLP and Preston Gates & Ellis. Phil served as an Assistant Attorney General with the Trial Division of the Oregon Department of Justice for 7 years, clerked for the Hon. Robert W. Redding, and worked for the United States Fish & Wildlife Service.