Biography

Sharon practices environmental law in Preti Flaherty's Portland office. Her practice includes advising clients on environmental, permitting, compliance and remediation issues; representing members of the regulated community before federal and state environmental regulatory agencies; and counseling developers, business owners, and lenders on environmental issues in the purchase of and sale of real property and in other business transactions.

As a former Assistant Regional Counsel with the Hazardous Waste Division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10 (Seattle), her work focused on the negotiation of hazardous waste cleanup agreements in the Superfund (CERCLA) and RCRA programs. Previously, she served as law clerk to Chief Justice Jay Rabinowitz of the Supreme Court of Alaska.

Environmental Due Diligence
Sharon has served as lead environmental counsel to numerous firm clients engaged in significant business transactions. Representative matters include:

  • Purchase of complex brownfield property. Transaction involved negotiation of first environmental covenant issued pursuant to the Maine Uniform Environmental Covenants Act.
  • Proposed sale of energy generating assets that were physically integrated with pulp and paper facility. Strategy included successfully obtaining a solid waste beneficial use permit under a tight timeframe, and negotiating with the Maine DEP to amend Maine solid waste laws.
  • Complex global permit transfer resulting from acquisition of large Maine manufacturing facility.

Environmental Compliance, Permitting and Enforcement
Sharon provides environmental counsel on a broad variety of technical regulatory compliance and permitting issues. including:

  • Hazardous waste and universal waste management
  • RCRA facility investigation and closure
  • Air, wastewater discharge, solid waste and beneficial re-use, landfill closure
  • Asbestos and PCBs
  • Spill prevention, control and countermeasure and integrated contingency planning
  • Transfer of environmental permits

Sharon draws on her experience as a former EPA regional enforcement attorney to assist clients facing EPA and Maine DEP enforcement actions. She has represented businesses and governmental authorities before the U.S. EPA in RCRA, Clean Water Act, and EPCRA enforcement actions and has been particularly successful in negotiating significantly reduced penalty amounts and in utilizing Supplemental Environmental Projects as alternatives to cash penalties.

Stormwater Experience
Sharon has been a key industry stakeholder representative during major overhauls of Maine's stormwater regulations and permits, including Chapter 500 stormwater management regulations and the Maine Multi-Sector General Permit for Industrial Stormwater Discharges. She negotiated the first Municipal Stormwater Sewer System (MS4) permits in Maine. In addition, she has represented members of the regulated community in the creation and implementation of the Long Creek Watershed General Permit (the first Clean Water Act permit in the U.S. to regulate stormwater discharges from existing impervious surfaces). She has also assisted clients providing comment on the proposed statewide Impervious Cover TMDL for impaired streams.

Professional Activities

  • Maine State Bar Association
    • Natural Resources and Environmental Law Section
  • American Bar Association
    • Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources

Honors & Recognition

  • Listed in New England Super Lawyers in the field of Environmental Law
  • Listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business

Civic and Charitable Activities

  • Maine Water Environment Association - Stormwater Committee
  • Maine Technology Institute - Environmental Technology Board
  • City of South Portland - Open Space Committee
  • Levey Day School - Advisory Board
  • Stanford Law School - Alumni Association
  • One Longfellow Square - Member

Presentations and Publications

  • Sharon has lectured and written extensively on a wide variety of subjects, including developments in federal and Maine stormwater regulation, the environmental aspects of business and real estate transactions, brownfields remediation, the Maine Voluntary Remedial Action Program, and the Maine Uniform Environmental Covenants Act.

Firm Highlights

Publication

FY2024 H-1B Registration Fact Sheet for Employers

Registration Process To file H-1B petitions subject to the FY2024 cap for an employee, you must first electronically register and pay a $10 fee for each electronic registration. The electronic registration includes basic information about...

Publication

Maine Workers’ Compensation New Year Update 2023

The new year brings proposed legislation, an update to the Medical Fee Schedule, and two recent decisions from the Appellate Division. Proposed Legislation Workers’ compensation bill LD 53 (HP 28) would amend 39-A M.R.S.A...

News

Attorney Jeffrey Thaler Named to 2023 Lawdragon Green 500: Leaders in Energy Law

For the second time, Preti Flaherty attorney Jeffrey Thaler has been recognized by the esteemed legal publication Lawdragon as an elite practitioner in the field of energy law. Jeff is the only Maine-base lawyer...

News

Maine Lawyers and Judges Once Again Show Overwhelming Support of Campaign for Justice

2022 proved to be another challenging year for Mainers. Skyrocketing inflation, an uncertain economic future, an ongoing housing crisis and more factors continue to push more at-risk individuals into a tight spot. Maine’s civil...

Publication

Enforcers Make It Easy to Report Cartels

This article was originally published in the American Bar Association  Antitrust Newsletter  on February 8, 2023.  Did you know that global competition enforcers have easy-to-find websites to encourage reporting of anticompetitive conduct? Not only...

Event

Jeff Talbert to Moderate Panel on PFAS Regulatory Action at ABA Toxic Torts & Environmental Law Conference

Jeff Talbert, Chair of Preti Flaherty's Environmental Law Group, will moderate "Regulatory Action: History & Horizon" at the ABA Toxic Torts & Environmental Law Conference. This panel will discuss the 2016 EPA health advisory, the...

Press Coverage

What’s Inside Maine Freight Trains? Public Can Only Hazard a Guess

Due to an exemption from the state's Freedom of Access Act, Maine residents are prevented from reviewing information regarding the transportation through their communities via freight trains of potentially hazardous materials. Rail industry officials...

Press Coverage

Authorities Refuse to Release Records for Maine School Shooter Hoax Calls

On November 15, 2022, multiple law enforcement agencies in Maine received false calls alerting police to active shooter situations at several high schools throughout the state. In the wake of this widespread hoax, the Kennebec...

Event

Bodie Colwell will be a Featured Panelist at ABI Annual Spring Meeting

Bodie Colwell will be a featured panelist on "Danger Ahead! Avoiding and Addressing Ethical Landmines in Attorney Engagement and Compensation" at the American Bankruptcy Institute's Annual Spring Meeting. The panel focuses on disputes regarding engagement...

News

Benchmark Litigation Names Preti Flaherty 2023 “Maine Firm of the Year”

Benchmark Litigation has named Preti Flaherty as 2023 Litigation Firm of the Year in the State of Maine. The Benchmark Awards honor distinguished litigators and law firms in all 50 states and 10 practice...