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John McKinney, a member of Wolff & Samson since 2003, delivers more than 30 years of experience in representing corporate clients facing serious environmental and occupational safety and health issues. He brings an understanding of the client’s perspective – gained from serving as in-house counsel earlier in his law career – to his law practice. An experienced Superfund, Spill Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) practitioner, John represents companies in connection with site remediations and the allocation of remediation costs associated with waste sites located in New Jersey and elsewhere.

John also handles regulatory compliance matters and government enforcement actions relating to air and water emissions, as well as hazardous waste handling. He represents clients in obtaining environmental permits and, in connection with permits, John handles historic preservation issues arising from potential encroachments on historic sites. He assists clients in connection with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspections, citations and issue resolution negotiations, and advises on compliance with specific OSHA regulations.

His litigation experience extends from being a municipal prosecutor to representing parties in complex multiparty cases and court-approved Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Over the course of his career, John has been adverse to – and worked with – numerous environmental lawyers, consultants and government regulators.

A frequent speaker at conferences and continuing legal education programs, John is an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University School of Law where he teaches New Jersey Environmental Law. A charter master of the Justice Stewart G. Pollock Environmental American Inn of Court, John was its first programming chair. John is a Fellow in the American College of Environmental Lawyers. Members of the College, a national professional association of 149 members, are elected based upon their professional experience and high standards in the practice of environmental law. He is the former chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Environmental Law Section and a former vice chair of the Solid and Hazardous Waste Committee of the American Bar Association’s Section of Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Law. He also served as moderator of the ABA satellite seminar on Hazardous Waste and Superfund.

John is a co-editor of the ABA publication, CERCLA Enforcement - A Practitioner’s Compendium of Essential EPA Guidance and Policy Documents and co-authored the Generators’ Obligations chapter of the ABA’s RCRA Practice Manual. The standard form group agreement used at many remedial sites around the nation is based on a version he developed for The Information Network for Superfund Settlements.

John is a trustee of the Drumthwacket Foundation, curator of the official residence of the governor of New Jersey, and a former member of the New Jersey Historic Sites Council. John is listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the area of Environmental Litigation and Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the area of Environmental Law and is included in Who’s Who in America. He has an AV® rating from Martindale-Hubbell and has been selected for inclusion for several years in New Jersey Super Lawyers. He is a Fellow in the American College of Environmental Lawyers.