Craig Trueblood led K&L Gates’s environment, land use and natural resources practice group from 2004 through 2012. He practices exclusively in environmental, land use, real estate and natural resource law and litigation, focusing on air quality, water quality, Superfund, natural resources restoration, NEPA/SEPA, and siting complex facilities such as incinerators, wastewater treatment plants, landfills, marine terminals, telecommunication facilities and mixed-use developments. He provides counsel to a diverse group of public and private clients with interests in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana. These clients include BNSF Railway Company, Equitable Financial Life Insurance, Microsoft, Google, Sierra Pacific Industries, City of Bothell, Invesco, Solvay U.S.A., and City of Spokane. Craig serves as pro bono counsel to Inland Northwest Land Conservancy and to Bainbridge Island Land Trust. Craig represented a coalition of Washington and Oregon cities, counties and private companies before the U.S. Supreme Court in City of Chicago v. EDF regarding regulatory designation of municipal incinerator ash as “hazardous waste.” Craig served as the firm’s managing partner for the Spokane office until he relocated to Seattle in 1999. He was an adjunct professor of environmental law at Gonzaga University School of Law from 1995-1998. His employment before joining K&L Gates included the Idaho Attorney General’s Office, Natural Resources Section (1985-1988); the Office of the General Counsel, Bonneville Power Administration (1984-1985); and executive director for the Northwest Environmental Defense Center (1983-1985). In 2003, Craig was recognized by Lewis & Clark Law School as a Distinguished Environmental Law Graduate. He is also ranked as a top environmental lawyer by Chambers USA and listed in The Best Lawyers in America since 2007.
I approach the practice of law as a problem-solving profession. Clients come to me with opportunities (a merger or acquisition, building a new facility, financing a project, or expanding an existing facility) or adversities (enforcement action, litigation, chemical spill). They need help and want to understand their legal obligations, and what options they have to take advantage of an opportunity or resolving an adverse situation. I enjoy helping clients think through and solve problems, and finding ways to avoid adverse situations in the future.