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Mary Ellen 1
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Mary Ellen Ternes, Esq.

Biography

Mary Ellen Ternes has long been recognized nationally in the fields of chemical engineering and environmental law and advocacy. Her practice brings over 40 years of in-depth experience at the intersection of energy, manufacturing, air quality, hazardous waste management, infrastructure and disaster response.

Prior to her 30 years as an environmental attorney, Mary Ellen served the U.S. EPA in emergency response, hazardous waste site remediation and permitting, then industry as a commercial hazardous waste incineration compliance management, and then back to U.S. EPA as a law clerk for EPA’s Office of General Counsel. With this background, she is able to draw on EPA administrative process, technical, chemical engineering and field experience in the most complex and technically challenging environmental matters.

This rare combination brings uncommon insights to environmental challenges revealing efficient solutions for commercial, industrial and governmental entities. Mary Ellen applies this experience to support a broad range of clients in evolving regulatory, transactional and litigation contexts, at a time when fundamental risk management concepts are being reconsidered and companies face an ever-shifting compliance landscape.

Mary Ellen received her B.E. in Chemical Engineering from Vanderbilt University (1984), and a J.D. with high honors, from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (1995), where she was Managing Editor of the UALR Law Journal and clerked for the U.S. EPA Office of General Counsel, Air and Radiation Division. Mary Ellen is licensed in the District of Columbia, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Oklahoma, as well as the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas, Eastern and Western Districts of Oklahoma, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Experience

Mary Ellen began her career with U.S. EPA’s Superfund Emergency Response Program, utilizing her chemical engineering degree for chemical release response, remediation and treatment as an On-Scene Coordinator and federal “commander on the scene.” Trained and charged by EPA Region 6 with emergency field response, Mary Ellen characterized root cause, extent and fate of hazardous chemical releases, designing and implementing removal and remedial actions for uncontrolled hazardous waste sites throughout EPA Region 6, including projects like the Vertac dioxin waste site with its on-site incineration remedy in Jacksonville, Arkansas.

After several years in the field she moved to EPA’s Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) program, becoming an EPA Region 6 hazardous waste incineration RCRA Subpart O permit writer, leading the EPA’s national RCRA incineration permit writer workshop. She left EPA to work for the pervasively regulated hazardous waste incineration industry, managing RCRA, Clean Air Act (CAA) and Toxic Substances Control Act compliance programs for ENSCO, a commercial hazardous waste incineration facility. At ENSCO, Mary Ellen was responsible for permitting, compliance demonstrations and enforcement, including the on-site incineration project at the BROS Superfund Site in Bridgeport, New Jersey.

Through her work with ENSCO’s attorneys while chairing the Permitting Committee for the Hazardous Waste Treatment Council (predecessor to the Environmental Technology Council), Mary Ellen became interested in environmental law, particularly the CAA. While serving as an advisory expert in the litigation surrounding the Vertac on-site incineration project, Mary Ellen met the EPA’s Office of General Counsel staff, and later clerked for EPA’s OGC Air and Radiation Division, where her experience confirmed her decision to change careers from chemical engineering to environmental law.

Since 1995, Mary Ellen Ternes has become well-known for providing sophisticated environmental legal strategies informed by practical EPA, industry sector, and chemical process experience. Her early foundation in emergency response, hazardous waste site remediation, incineration and chemical process safety, permitting and compliance, followed by over twenty years counselling clients through complex regulatory and technical issues provides unique depth in developing effective legal strategies. Relying on this rare breadth and depth, she guides a broad spectrum of industrial, commercial and municipal sector clients through complex projects such as:

  • Permitting and compliance challenges and enforcement arising from exceptional process design and operating scenarios that interfere with efficient permitting and reasonable compliance demonstrations, subjecting permittee to unreasonable enforcement exposure;
  • Legal rapid response required for hazardous substance release disaster response, mitigation and remediation;
  • Risk management strategies for developing issues, such as risk arising for chemical process, water and waste treatment plants threatened by extreme weather events, and risk arising from ongoing unsustainable business practices including failure to plan for business continuity through a disaster;
  • Transactions involving multi-faceted operational and/or pollutant scenarios that threaten stalling transaction closings and commercial development generally, including regulatory agency approvals and financing;
  • Litigation involving chemical processes or pollution events including class actions, breach of contract, common law actions and citizen suits, as well as civil and criminal enforcement proceedings before administrative agencies.

Specific examples of past projects include:

  • Clean Air Act Permitting, Audits, Enforcement and Litigation

Advising an industrial manufacturing client that was implicated when Clean Air Act “stack test” results triggered an enforcement investigation. Mary Ellen assisted the client in demonstrating that the process was not testable, and working closely with technical consultants, negotiated an air permit modification with new compliance strategies. Previously, Mary Ellen had guided the client through:

  • Designing and implementing a nationwide facility compliance audit and associated self-disclosure followed by completion of a negotiated compliance schedule;
  • Successfully defending against a Clean Air Act citizen suit and negotiating an advantageous settlement;
  • Prevailing against EPA allegations that a process incident had triggered CERCLA reporting requirements, which were resolved by applying chemical engineering principles to demonstrate that no material could have reached the “environment.”
  • Transactions

Assisting a deal team to assess material risk related to the acquisition of a large chemical process facility which had been targeted by local environmental advocacy groups. Mary Ellen was asked to provide legal analysis of traditional legacy environmental risks associated with contaminated properties, as well as the future compliance and enforcement risk of the chemical process facility from all perspectives, including the history of its Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act permitting and enforcement, and applicable elements of the Clean Air Act’s Risk Management Program. Mary Ellen provided the client with a comprehensive understanding of historic, current, and emerging risk for strategic management in this critical transaction allowing a successful closing.

  • Contaminated Property Remediation and Redevelopment

On behalf of a development client, Mary Ellen was retained to develop a remediation strategy for a network of downtown properties in a large metroplex area involving groundwater contamination over which there was planned commercial and residential development. Mary Ellen successfully guided the client through negotiations achieving regulatory approvals for redevelopment, including the environmental application for HUD financing, utilizing separate groundwater and soil “operable units” and institutional controls.

 

With this unique combination of education, training and work experience in the fields of chemical engineering and environmental law, Mary Ellen has served in various leadership and liaison roles within and between the legal and engineering communities. As a Fellow and past President of the American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL), a Fellow, past leader, lifetime member, frequent author and educator for the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), Senior Fellow for Law and Policy of the Global Council for Science and the Environment (GCSE),  a past leader and continuing publications contributor within the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Environment, Energy and Resources (SEER) and a past leader within the ABA Business Law Section, Mary Ellen focuses on better integrating law and policy with science and engineering. The value of Mary Ellen’s science policy focus has been recognized by several entities, including: the GCSE, which in 2022, appointed  Mary Ellen as GCSE delegate to the United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC) treaty negotiations, where she participated in INCs 1, 3 and 4; the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM), which relied on Mary Ellen’s expertise in its consensus paper, “Reckoning with the U.S. Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste,” and included Mary Ellen as an expert in its Roundtable on Plastics; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) included Mary Ellen in its National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis Working Group for the Social Cost of Plastic Pollution; Vanderbilt University relies on Mary Ellen’s expertise as a member of its External Advisory Council, and created an endowed interdisciplinary distinguished lectureship series within the Vanderbilt Center for Sustainability, Energy and Climate in her name.  Mary Ellen is a frequent author and speaker particularly as it relates to improving applied science-based environmental policy, especially most recently in the areas of climate change adaptation, renewable energy, plastic and other chemical waste mitigation and regulation.

Mary Ellen is recognized by the International Who’s Who of Environment Lawyers (since 2004); Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Business(since 2011), The Best Lawyers in America© (since 2007) (environmental law; environmental litigation; administrative /regulatory law), Oklahoma Super Lawyers (since 2009), in which she was named to its list of “Top 25 Women Oklahoma Super Lawyers,” (2009-2013, 2015-2018, 2021, 2024) and Martindale-Hubbell as AV. She was also recognized by Best Lawyers® as Oklahoma City’s “Lawyer of the Year” for Environmental Law in 2011, 2016, 2019,2023, and 2026, and for Administrative and Regulatory Law in 2020, an honor only given to a single lawyer in each legal specialty in each community. Mary Ellen’s efforts have resulted in the Earth & Water Law, LLC Oklahoma City office being ranked regionally by the U.S. News & World Report – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” for three of the firm’s primary areas of law: Administrative and Regulatory Law, and Environmental Law and Litigation – Environmental. 

Presentations & Speaking Engagements

  • Speaker, Legal Considerations: Plastic and Microplastic, University of California Law, San Francisco, (recorded lecture) Fall 2025 
  • Speaker, Groundwater Protection: Microplastic, 2025 GWPC Annual Forum, New Orleans, Louisiana (recorded lecture), September 18, 2025
  • Speaker, Environmental Impacts of plastics: soil, water and air, University of Houston, Division of Energy and Innovation, Micro-credentialing Program, September 15, 2025
  • Speaker, P-Graph: Plastic Application? P-Graph webinar, June 27, 2025
  • Speaker, Green Communities: Microplastic, American Chemical Society webinar, June 13, 2025
  • Speaker, Microplastic Considerations, 5th Annual PFAS and Emerging Contaminants Workshop, organized by Trihydro Corporation, at the Oklahoma State University, May 8, 2025
  • Speaker, Legal Landscape Supporting Plastic Circularity, 2025 University of Houston Sypmposium on Plastic Circularity, April 17, 2025
  • Speaker, Microplastic Research Necessary for Developing Regulation and Policy, University of Oklahoma Microplastic Workshop, January 23, 2025
  • Speaker, Road to Busan, Launch and Panel Discussion, Analysis of Governments’ Authority to Mitigate Micro- and Nanoplastic Releases to Inform the Global Plastics Treaty Negotiations, University of Wollongong, Minderoo Foundation, Geneva Environmental Network, https://www.genevaenvironmentnetwork.org/events/launch-and-panel-discussion-analysis-of-governments-authority-to-mitigate-micro-and-nanoplastic-releases-to-inform-the-global-plastics-treaty-negotiations/, November 6, 2024
  • Speaker, Current Science and Policy of Plastic, Oklahoma Bar Association Environmental Law Section, October 25, 2024
  • Speaker, Interdisciplinary approaches to Sustainability: Plastic, Vanderbilt University Center for Sustainability, Energy and Climate, Inaugural Lecture for the Vanderbilt VCSE Mary Ellen Ternes Distinguished Lectureship Series, October 22, 2024
  • Speaker, Existing U.S. Federal Authorities to Address Plastic Pollution, Environmental Law Institute webinar, https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=existing+us+authorities, September 2024
  • Speaker, Plastic Update, ACOEL Education Committee, March 28, 2024
  • Speaker, Status of Plastic, AIChE Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, Nov. 7, 2023
  • Speaker, Plastic Update, AIChE Webinar Series, Aug. 23, 2023
  • Speaker, Panel Discussion regarding “Dear Plastic – a toxic love story,” French Embassy, Washington, D.C., May 11, 2023
  • Speaker, Solving the Plastic Problem, Vanderbilt University, Sustainable Engineering Visiting Lecture Series, April 9, 2023 
  • Speaker, Plastic Law and Policy: What ChemE’s Need to Know, AIChE Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, Nov. 15, 2022
  • Speaker, Plastic Update: Law and Policy, AIChE Environmental Division Webinar Series, July 25, 2022
  • Speaker and Moderator, ACOEL International Pro Bono Committee GCSE Plastic Project, ACOEL Education Series, June 22, 2022
  • Moderator, Engaging Science to Sustain Our Oceans, Global Council for Science and Environment, Capitol Visitors Center, Washington D.C., with panelists: Dr. Richard Spinrad, NOAA Administrator, Monica Medina, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Nick Rotker, MITRE, and Keynote Speaker Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, June 22, 2022
  • Speaker, Assessment of Legal and Regulatory Aspects of Plastic Pollution, International Summit on Plastic Pollution, Global Council for Science and Environment, New York City, New York, April 2, 2022
  • Speaker, Hydrogen: Regulation, Production, Revolution, ACOEL Education Series, February 25, 2022
  • Speaker, Plastic Update, ACOEL Education Series, November 10, 2021
  • Speaker, Environmental Law for Chemical Engineers, AIChE Division Series, September 15, 2021
  • Speaker, Overview of United States Law Governing Solid and Water Waste Management: Existing Law, Gaps and Solutions, National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Conference regarding United States Contributions to Global Ocean Plastic Waste (Meeting 2), Dec. 7, 2020 
  • Speaker, Waste Plastic Law & Policy Landscape, Univ. of Mass. Waste Plastic Symposium, Dec. 2, 2020  
  • Speaker, Sustainability, Legal and Business Drivers and Recent Trends, AIChE Annual Meeting, Nov. 12, 2020
  • Speaker, Graduates, Are You Listening? Plastics: Science, Law and Policy, ACOEL Annual Meeting Webinar, Sept. 24, 2020
  • Speaker, Leveraging Sustainability, International Congress on Sustainability Science and Engineering, Aug. 3, 2020 
  • Speaker, Breaking News: Pandemics Now & Next Time, ELI Member Breaking News Event, Webinar, March 30, 2020
  • Speaker, Who Steers the Climate? The Powers, and Limits, of State Action on Climate Change, Climate Disruption and Decarbonization Conference, ABA SEER Virtual Conference, Feb. 20, 2020
  • Speaker, Microplastics: Law and Policy Landscape, National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Conference regarding Emergency Technologies to Advance Research and Decisions on the Environmental Health Effects of Microplastics, Washington, D.C., Jan. 28, 2020
  • Speaker, Microplastics: Law and Policy Landscape, ACOEL Education Series, June 11, 2020
  • Speaker, The Last Straw: Our Future Circular Plastic Economy, French-American Workshop, “Responding to Plastic Pollution through Science: from research to action, Le Mans, France, Dec. 12-13, 2019
  • Speaker, The Last Straw: Our Future Circular Plastic Economy, OPESCT Study on Plastic Pollution Round Table Discussions, Paris, France, Dec. 11, 2019
  • Speaker, The Last Straw: Our Future Plastic Economy and Climate Change Implications, AIChE The Climate Change Solutions Community Technical Session, AIChE 2019 Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, Oct. 12, 2019 
  • Speaker, The Last Straw: Our Future Plastic Economy, AIChE Public Affairs and Information Committee Town Hall, AIChE 2019 Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, Oct. 10, 2019
  • Speaker, Three Stories and Q&A, Business Ethics Practice Series, Oklahoma State University Spears School of Business, Stillwater, Oklahoma, Oct. 5, 2019
  • Speaker, Administrative Procedures Act 101, American Society of Mechanical Engineers Regulatory Engineering Forum, Washington D.C., Oct. 3-4, 2019
  • Speaker, The Last Straw: Our Future Circular Plastics Economy, Oklahoma Bar Association Environmental Law Section Annual Meeting, Oklahoma City, OK, Sept. 27, 2019 
  • Speaker, Plastic Waste: Global and Domestic Legal Authority, AIChE Institute for Sustainability Global Symposium on Waste Plastic, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, Sept. 19-20, 2019 
  • Speaker, Chemical Risk Management: Plastic Waste, ABA Business Law Section Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, Sept. 12, 2019
  • Speaker, Chemical Risk Management: Release Preparedness, Response and Liability, ABA Business Law Section Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, Sept. 12, 2019
  • Speaker, Chemical Process Plants, Extreme Weather, Legal Implications and Risk Management through Resilience, University of Texas A&M Energy Institute, College Station, TX, June 17, 2019
  • Moderator, National Preparedness and Hazard Mitigation, Oklahoma City University School of Law Murrah Center for Homeland Security Law & Policy, 2019 National Summit, Oklahoma City, OK, April 19, 2019
  • Conference Co-Chair, What You Need to Know About Disaster Preparedness, Response and Recovery, Oklahoma City University School of Law Murrah Center for Homeland Security Law & Policy, 2019 National Summit, in collaboration with ACOEL, Oklahoma City, OK, April 19, 2019
  • Speaker, Implementing the National Contingency Plan, ACOEL Regional Conference, Oklahoma City, OK, April 18, 2019
  • Speaker, Environmental Regulations: Release Response and Preparedness, ACOEL Regional Conference, Oklahoma City, OK, April 18, 2019
  • Conference Co-Chair, ACOEL Regional Conference, Environmental Issues in Disaster Preparedness, Response and Recovery, in collaboration with the Oklahoma City University School of Law Murrah Center for Homeland Security Law & Policy, Oklahoma City, OK, April 18, 2019
  • Speaker, Legal Liability, Good Engineering Judgment and Adaptation, AIChE Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) Global Congress on Process Safety (GCPS), New Orleans, LA, April 1, 2019
  • Speaker, Chemical Engineers: Environmental Law and Policy Making, AIChE Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, October 29, 2018
  • Speaker, EPA Deregulatory Actions Status 2018, PAIC Town Hall, AIChE Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, October 28, 2018
  • Speaker, Climate Change Task Force Policy Review Project: Critical Review of EPA’s Endangerment Findings, PAIC Townhall, AIChE Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, October 28, 2018
  • Speaker, Legal Liability Considerations: Remediation Contractors, 2018 Oklahoma Brownfields Conference, Oklahoma City, OK, September 27, 2018
  • Speaker, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Environmental Law Institute, Summer School (webinar), July 17, 2018
  • Speaker, Industrial Chemical and Petrochemical Operations: Climate Adaptation Lega and Engineering Issues in Context of Hazard Risk, EarthX 2018 Law & Policy Symposium – “Back to the Future,” Dallas, TX, April 20, 2018
  • Speaker, The Politics of Trump, Trudeau and Pena Nieto: Three Amigos or What? A Look at NAFTA, Immigration and Climate Change, ABA Business Law Section, Orlando, FL, April 13, 2018
  • Speaker, Climate Change Task Force: Climate Change Policy Review Project, PAIC Town Hall, AIChE Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, October 29, 2017
  • Speaker/Moderator, Ethics Essentials for Environmental, Energy and Natural Resource Lawyers, ABA SEER 25th Fall Conference, Baltimore, MD, October 19, 2017
  • Speaker, Clean Air Act Ambiguity, Misconceptions, and Challenges, Arkansas Bar Association, Environmental Law Section, Little Rock, AR, October 10, 2017
  • Speaker, Managing Environmental Business Risk in the New Administration, Oklahoma Bar Association, Environmental Law Section, Sulfur, OK, September 28, 2017
  • Speaker, Industrial Chemical and Petrochemical Operations: Climate Adaptation Issues in Context of Hazard Risk Analysis and Plant Design, NASA Interagency Forum on Climate Risks, Impacts and Adaptation, Washington, DC, September 21, 2017
  • Speaker/Moderator, Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration: Law and Policy Panel, Carbon Management Technology Conference, Houston, TX, July 19, 2017
  • Speaker and ACOEL, Lessons Learned: Effective Environmental Regulation of Critical Infrastructure Development & Operation, XI International Convention on Environment & Development, Havana, Cuba, July 5, 2017
  • Plenary Speaker, Adjusting to EPA Policy Changes with the New Trump Administration, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, AIChE Midwest Regional Conference, Chicago, IL, March 1, 2017
  • Speaker, Climate Change Policy Post 2015 Paris Agreement, AIChE Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, November 16, 2016
  • Speaker, Corporate Drivers Toward Sustainability: Carrots & Sticks, AIChE Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, November 16, 2016
  • Host and Facilitator, AIChE San Francisco Area Climate Adaptation Workshop, AIChE Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, November 15, 2016
  • Speaker, AIChE and Resilient Climate-Change Responses, AIChE Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, November 13, 2016
  • Speaker, Environmental Law: Oil and Gas Hot Topics, Oklahoma City Mineral Lawyers Society, Oklahoma City, OK, October 20, 2016
  • Moderator, Climate Change – Adaption in the Flesh, ACOEL 2016 Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, October 27, 2016
  • Speaker, Environmental Law: Smart Business Strategies, ABA Business Law Section (webinar), August 25, 2016
  • Speaker, EPA Regulation of RCRA Exempt Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Derived Solid Waste, Oklahoma Corporation Commission Desk Sessions, Oklahoma City, OK, August 2, 2016
  • Speaker, 2015 Year in Review and Beyond, ABA SEER (webinar), June 30, 2016
  • Speaker, Environmental Issues in the Power Industry, American Society of Mechanical Engineers Power & Energy Conference & Exhibition, June 28, 2016, Charlotte, NC
  • Speaker, Staying on Track: Environmental Issues for Healthcare Providers, 26th Annual Crowe & Dunlevy Healthcare Update, May 3, 2016, Oklahoma City, OK
  • Speaker, Threading the Needle, Crowe & Dunlevy Oil and Gas Upstream Business Risk Management Symposium, April 20, 2016, Cushing, OK
  • Host and Facilitator, AIChE Houston Area Climate Adaptation Workshop, AIChE Spring Meeting and 12th Global Congress on Process Safety, April 12, 2016, Houston, TX
  • Speaker, Sustainability Decisions in a Post COP21 Era, AIChE Spring Meeting and 12th Global Congress on Process Safety, April 11, 2016, Houston, TX
  • Speaker, Management After Operator is Finished with the Water – Subsurface Focus, Water Acquisition and Management for Oil & Gas Development Conference, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, April 8, 2016, Houston, TX
  • Speaker, Fine Tuning Environmental Diligence in a Dynamic Transactions Market, Bloomberg BNA (webinar), March 24, 2016
  • Speaker, Critical Public Policy Issues for Every ChemE: Climate Change, AIChE Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, November 8, 2015
  • Moderator/Speaker, Good Environmental Due Diligence: What Is It, ABA Business Law Section Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, September 18, 2015
  • Speaker, Hot Topics in Environmental, Energy and Natural Resources Law, ABA Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, August 2, 2015
  • Speaker, Operational Safeguards, Risk Management and Mitigation Strategies, Crowe & Dunlevy’s Avoiding a Shakedown: Induced Seismicity and the Legal, Regulatory and Operational Impacts of Earthquakes in Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK, July 16, 2015
  • Speaker, Criminal Enforcement of Environmental Law, ABA Business Law Section Spring Meeting, San Francisco, CA, April 18, 2015
  • Speaker, A Day in the Life of a Hospital Administrator: Environmental Issues, 25th Annual Crowe & Dunlevy Healthcare Update, Oklahoma City, OK, April 16, 2015
  • Moderator, Year in Review 2013: Highlights of Developments in Environment, Energy and Resources Law, ABA SEER (webinar), May 13, 2014
  • Speaker, Stay Sharp: Looking Beyond Biohazard Exposure Control, Crowe & Dunlevy Healthcare Practice Group (webinar), June 25, 2014
  • Speaker, 2014 Environmental Hot Topics, ABA Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, August 10, 2014
  • Speaker, Hot Topics in Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Law, ABA SEER (webinar), October 30, 2014
  • Speaker, Law Student and Young Attorneys Interested in Environmental and Energy Law, ABA SEER Forum, Oklahoma City, OK, October 30, 2014,
  • Moderator & Speaker, Environmental Insurance: Protecting Your Investment, 2014 Oklahoma Brownfields Conference, Tulsa, OK, November 5, 2014,
  • Moderator, BFPP & Continuing Obligations, 2014 Oklahoma Brownfields Conference, Tulsa, OK, November 5, 2014
  • Speaker, Air Emission Regulation and Shale Development, Oklahoma Corporation Commission 2013 Oil and Gas Institute, Tulsa, OK, October 18, 2013
  • Speaker, Shale Gas Environmental Regulation, Science History Institute, Joseph Priestley Society Lecture Series, Philadelphia, PA, October 17, 2013
  • Speaker, EPA Next Generation Enforcement Initiative, Environmental Federation of Oklahoma 22nd Annual Meeting, Oklahoma City, OK, October 4, 2013
  • Speaker, Introduction to Environmental Law, University of Tulsa School of Law, Energy Law Journal Regulatory Workshop, Tulsa, OK, August 23, 2013
  • Speaker, Emission Control and Compliance Issues in the Chemical & Petroleum Industries: EPA’s Next Generation Compliance and Flare Enforcement Initiative, Air & Waste Management Association, 106th Annual Conference & Exhibition, Chicago, IL, June 25, 2013
  • Speaker, Environmental Compliance Approaches in Manufacturing, and the Future of EPA Enforcement, American Institute of Chemical Engineers 2013 Spring Meeting and Global Congress on Process Safety, San Antonio, TX, May 1, 2013,
  • Speaker, Shale Oil and Gas Q&A Session: Environmental Regulatory and Enforcement Developments, AIChE Spring Meeting and Global Congress on Process Safety, San Antonio, TX, April 29, 2013
  • Speaker, The Future of EPA Enforcement and EPA’s Flare Initiative, 16th Annual A&WMA Gulf Coast Chapter’s Hot Air Topics Conference, Houston, TX, February 7, 2013
  • Speaker, Greenhouse Gas ‘Best Available Control Technology’: Carbon dioxide injection for Enhanced Oil Recovery, 2013 Energy, Utility and Environment Conference, Phoenix, AZ, January 28, 2013
  • Speaker, EPA’s Next Generation Enforcement and Flare Enforcement Initiative, Integrated Environmental Management Consortium, Houston, TX, January 23, 2013
  • Speaker, Regulatory Developments in Air Permitting, Reporting and E&P Waste Policy, Oklahoma City Mineral Lawyers Society, Oklahoma City, OK, January 17, 2013
  • Speaker, Water Law and Policy: Implications for Water Sourcing in Shale Development, AIChE-A&WMA Joint Workshop: “Shale Oil and Gas E&P – Water Challenges and Opportunities,” Pittsburgh, PA, November 1, 2012
  • Speaker, Technology Forcing with Clean Air Act Best Available Control Technology, AIChE Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, October 31, 2012
  • Speaker, EPA’s Clean Air Act Authority to Regulate Greenhouse Gases, AIChE Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, October 29, 2012
  • Speaker, Greenhouse gas update: EPA rule challenges, cap and trade, LCFS, common law litigation and public trust, ABA SEER 20th Section Fall Meeting, Austin, TX, October 12, 2012
  • Speaker, EPA Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule: Lessons Learned, AIChE and the Air & Waste Management Association (webinar), September 12, 2012
  • Speaker, Rethink: Impacts of Social Media, 2012 Oklahoma Brownfields Conference, Oklahoma City, OK, May 22, 2012
  • Speaker, Shale Development: Air Quality Permitting Challenges and Compliance Strategies, Air & Waste Management Association and American Institute of Chemical Engineers (webinar), May 1, 2012
  • Speaker, A Conversation with Mary Ellen Ternes, Energy Law Journal Forum, Tulsa, OK, April 19, 2012
  • Speaker, Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Regulation Update, AIChE Spring Meeting and 8th Global Congress on Process Safety, Houston, TX, April 4, 2012
  • Speaker, Environmental Liability: Regulation, Compliance and Litigation Risk, AIChE Spring Meeting and 8th Global Congress on Process Safety, Houston, TX, April 2, 2012
  • Speaker, Carbon, Capture and Sequestration: Regulatory and Policy, Carbon Management Technology Conference, Orlando, FL, February 8, 2012
  • Speaker, Counting Sequestered Carbon: CCS/EOR Conversion, Carbon Management Technology Conference, Orlando, FL, February 8, 2012
  • Speaker, Business Risks of Carbon Counting, Carbon Management Technology Conference, Orlando, FL, February 7, 2012
  • Speaker, Greenhouse Gas Reporting, 2011 Emerson Global Users Exchange, Nashville, TN, October 26, 2011 – October 27, 2011
  • Speaker, Legal Implications and Drivers in Sustainable Energy, AIChE Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, October 18, 2011
  • Speaker, Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Current Law, Voluntary Initiatives and Future Implications, AIChE Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, October 17, 2011
  • Speaker, Adaptation for Engineers, 2011 Oklahoma Engineering Conference, Norman, OK, June 9, 2011
  • Speaker, Greenhouse Gas Measurement and Legal Implications, AIChE Spring Meeting, Chicago, IL, March 16, 2011
  • Speaker, Climate Change Legislation and Regulation, AIChE Spring Meeting, Chicago, IL, March 16, 2011
  • Speaker, Environmental and Administrative Law 101, with Greenhouse Gas and Sustainability Update, AIChE Spring Meeting, Chicago, IL, March 15, 2011
  • Speaker, Climate Change Regulation and Litigation, AIChE Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, November 10, 2010
  • Speaker, Environmental and Administrative Law 101, AIChE Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, November 10, 2010
  • Speaker, Clean Air Act Update, Environmental Federation of Oklahoma Annual Meeting, October 14, 2010
  • Speaker, Barriers to Implementing Sustainable Approaches, 9th Annual Oklahoma Sustainability Network Conference, Edmond, OK, June 11, 2010
  • Speaker, Greenhouse Gas Law and Policy Developments, Association of Energy Engineers, Oklahoma Chapter, Oklahoma City, OK, May 19, 2010
  • Speaker, Climate Change Developments – Climate Regulation is Here to Stay, Arkansas Bar Association 14th Annual Environmental Law Conference, Rogers, AR, May 7, 2010
  • Speaker, Legal Issues Arising in Dry Cleaner Remediation, 2010 Oklahoma Brownfields Conference, Oklahoma City, OK, April 28, 2010
  • Speaker and Conference Co-Chair, Climate Change Legislation and Regulation, AIChE Spring Meeting, San Antonio, TX, March 23, 2010
  • Speaker, Greenhouse Gas Emissions Documentation, Tracking and Reporting, AIChE Spring Meeting, San Antonio, TX, March 22, 2010
  • Conference Co-Chair, 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Spring Meeting, San Antonio, TX, March 21-25, 2010
  • Speaker, Applied Science in Policy Making, 2010 National Association of Environmental Law Societies Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, March 6, 2010
  • Speaker, Drivers, Science and Policy of Climate Change, 2010 National Association of Environmental Law Societies Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, March 5, 2010
  • Speaker, U.S. Climate Change: Legislation Update, AIChE Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN, November 11, 2009
  • Speaker, The Final Rule on Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases, McAfee & Taft and Cardinal Engineering Environmental Law Seminar, Oklahoma City, OK, October 13, 2009
  • Moderator, The Clean Air Act and Nanotechnology, ABA SEER Program Three in the Nanotechnology Teleconference Series (webinar), January 16, 2007
  • Speaker, Moderator’s Summary, Hot Topics 33rd Annual Conference on Environmental Law, ABA Section of Environment, Energy and Resources (Keystone Conference), Keystone, CO, March 12, 2004
  • Chair, 33rd Annual Conference on Environmental Law, ABA SEER, Keystone, CO, March 11-14, 2004
  • Producer and Speaker, ABA Center for CLE Clean Air Act Satellite Seminar, Washington, D.C., 2002
  • Speaker, Managing Mercury: It’s Sources, Fate and Regulation, Moderator’s Overview, 31st ABA SEER Annual Conference on Environmental Law, Keystone, CO, March 14-17, 2002
  • Speaker, Practical Implementations of Becoming a Non-Attainment Area, 5th Annual Joint Environmental Law Conference, Arkansas and Oklahoma Bar Associations, Environmental Law Sections, May 18-19, 2001
  • Producer, ABA Center for CLE Clean Air Act Satellite Seminar, Washington, D.C., 2001

Publications & Conference Proceedings

  • Author, co-author and contributor, Disaster and Hazardous Materials Incident Response, ABA Environment, Energy and Resources Section (eds Burack and Murray), 2025
  • Co-author, ChE in Context: Adjusting to Policy Changes, Part 1: Uncharted Waters, Mary Ellen Ternes, Martin A.  Abraham, Luke Achenie, Chemical Engineering Progress, May 2025
  • Co-author, Navigating the complexities of advanced recycling: Processes, feedstock, and public health connections in the context of the global plastic pollution crisis, Matuch, Cindy, Chen, Wan-Ting, Ternes, Mary, Seay, Jeffrey, Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy (Wiley), Volume 44, Issue 3, May/June 2025 (first published as e1460, March 28, 2025), https://aiche.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ep.14601
  • Co-author, Analysis of governments’ authority to mitigate micro- and nanoplastic releases through closed-loop design to inform the global plastics treaty negotiations. Karen Raubenheimer, Niko Urho, Mary Ellen Ternes, Jeffrey Seay,  Derek Orndoff, Chideraa Ndubuisi, Lauren Maunder, Univ. of Wollongong, Australia, https://cdn.minderoo.org/assets/new/documents/MNPs-and-Plastics-Treaty.pdf, November 6, 2024
  • Co-author, A review of additive usage in polymer manufacturing: case study phenolic antioxidants. Orndoff D, Lone S, Beymer Farris B, Wood M, Sadler J, Ternes ME, Hester T, Miller KM and Seay J (2024). A review of additive usage in polymer manufacturing: case study phenolic antioxidants. Cambridge Prisms: Plastics, 2,e34,1–12 https://doi.org/10.1017/plc.2024.36 November 2024
  • Lead Editor, Plastic, Vol. 38, No. 4, American Bar Association Natural Resources and the Environment, Spring 2024
  • Author, Vantage Point, in Plastic, Vol. 38, No. 4, American Bar Association Natural Resources and the Environment, Spring 2024
  • Author, Perspectives: A Terrifying Pollutant, in Plastic, Vol. 38, No. 4, American Bar Association Natural Resources and the Environment, Spring 2024 
  • Reviewer, Existing U.S. Federal Authorities to Address Plastic Pollution, Environmental Law Institute, Monterey Bay Aquarium, https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/globalassets/mba/pdf/newsroom/aquarium-report-existing-US-federal-authorities-to-address-plastic-pollution.pdf, March 2024
  • Co-author, The ChE in context: The Plastic Treaty Negotiations from a Delegate’s Perspective, Mary Ellen Ternes, Jeffrey Seay, Tracy Hester, Chemical Engineering Context, January 2024
  • Author, Hubris, Thy Name is Plastic, Natural Resources & Environment, ABA SEER, Summer 2023
  • Author, ChE in Context: Environmental Justice and Chemical Engineers, Chemical Engineering Progress, Oct. 2023
  • Author, Wanted: Chemical Engineer Environmental Attorneys, Chemical Engineering Progress, June 2023
  • Author, Insights: Plastic Justice, Natural Resources & Environment, ABA SEER, Winter 2023
  • Author, ChE in Context: Recent Plastic Policy Initiatives and Opportunities for ChEs, Chemical Engineering Progress, Oct. 2022
  • Co-Author, Sustainability Policy Update: Big Changes by the Biden Administration, Chemical Engineering Progress, June 2022
  • Author, compilation leader and editor, France and the United States: Comparative Law Analysis and Recommendations Regarding Plastic Waste, Compilation Memorandum regarding the GCSE Plastics Reports, March 15, 2022, https://www.gcseglobal.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/GCSE%20French%20American%20Comparative%20Law%20of%20Plastic%20Pollution%20March%2015%202022.pdf  
  • Contributor, Reckoning with the U.S. Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste, National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, National Academies Press (2022)
  • Co-Author, A review of current challenges and legal advances in the global management of plastic waste, Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, March 9, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-022-00289-y
  • Author, Chapters 9, 10 and 11, Environmental Aspects of Real Estate and Commercial Transactions (5th Edition), ABA Press, Jan. 25, 2021
  • Co-Author, Waste Plastic: Challenges and Opportunities for the Chemical Industry, Chemical Engineering Progress, Nov. 2020
  • Author, Plastics: Global Outlook for Multinational Environmental Lawyers, ABA Natural Resources and Environment, Oct. 5, 2020
  • Co-Author, ChE in Context: The Plastics Circular Economy, Chemical Engineering Progress, July 2020
  • Author, Adapting Business for Climate Change Risk, ABA Business Law Section Environmental Committee Newsletter, September 9, 2019
  • Author, Plague, Pestilence, Plastic? Maybe Not, Trends, ABA SEER, September 1, 2019
  • Author, Insights: A Different Kind of Carbon Exchange, Natural Resources & Environment, ABA SEER, Summer 2019
  • Author, Legal Liability, Good Engineering Judgment and Adaptation, Process Safety Progress, July 24, 2019
  • Co-Author, The ChE in Context: AIChE Updates Its Climate Change Policy Statement, AIChE Chemical Engineering Progress, July 2019
  • Co-Author, What You Need to Know About Disaster Preparedness, Response and Recovery, The Murrah Center for Homeland Security Law & Policy, 2019 National Summit, Oklahoma City, OK, April 19, 2019
  • Co-Author, Environmental Issues in Disaster Preparedness, Response and Recovery, ACOEL Regional Conference, Oklahoma City, OK, April 18, 2019
  • Author, Yes, You too Can Be Sued, or Legal Liability, Good Engineering Judgment and Adaptation, AIChE Spring Meeting and 15th Global Congress on Process Safety, New Orleans, LA, April 1, 2019
  • Author, Climate Change Adaptation by Any Other Name, Natural Resources & Environment, ABA SEER, November 15, 2018
  • Author, The ChE in Context: Member Voices Shaping AIChE’s Climate Change Policy, AIChE Chemical Engineering Progress, October 2018
  • Author, The Politics of Trump, Trudeau and Pena Nieto: Three Amigos or What? A Look at NAFTA, Immigration and Climate Change: Climate Change, ABA Business Law Section, Orlando, FL, April 13, 2018
  • Author, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle Carbon Dioxide, Natural Resources & Environment ABA SEER, February 14, 2018
  • Author, Ethics (wake up!), Trends, ABA SEER, January 1, 2018
  • Author, Critical Issues: Trends in Corporate Sustainability, AIChE Chemical Engineering Progress, August 2017
  • Co-Author, The ChE in Context: Members will Shape AIChE’s Climate Change Policy, AIChE Chemical Engineering Progress, July 2017
  • Author, Highlights, ABA SEER Year in Review (2017, for YIR 2016)
  • Co-Author, Thomson Reuters’ Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel (Chapter 13: Communications), 2017
  • Co-Author, The ChE in Context: Adjusting to Policy Changes: Full Reversal in Washington, DC, AIChE, January 2017
  • Author, The Herrmann Environmental Writing Award: This Year’s Outstanding Entry in a Crowded Field, ACOEL Blog, November 2016
  • Author, Cuba Delegation Part 3: Environmental Law and Policy Wonks Wanted, ACOEL Blog, October 2016
  • Co-Author, American Bar Association’s Clean Air Act Handbook (Chapter 6: New Source Review; co-authored with Bernard F. Hawkins, second ed. Robert J. Martineau Jr. and David P. Novello, third and fourth edition, ed. Julie Domike), 2016
  • Author, Highlights, ABA SEER Year in Review (2016, for YIR 2015)
  • Co-Author, Air Pollution Control Technology Handbook, CRC Press (2nd ed., co-authors Dr. Karl B. Schnelle, and Dr. Russell F. Dunn), 2016
  • Author, Highlights, ABA SEER Year in Review (2015, for YIR 2014)
  • Author, Where Are We Now? EPA’s Audit Policy, Next Generation Compliance and Budgetary Implications, ACOEL Blog, January 2014
  • Author, Highlights, ABA SEER Year in Review (2014, for YIR 2013)
  • Author, Another Blow to EPA’s NSR/PSD Enforcement Initiative, ACOEL Blog, August 2013
  • Author, EPA Audit Policy Options: What Do You Think? ACOEL Blog, January 2013
  • Author, Special Section: Energy-Regulatory Programs Governing Shale Gas Development, AIChE Chemical Engineering Progress, August 2012
  • Author, Greenhouse Gas and Climate Change, Oklahoma Bar Journal, February 2012
  • Author, Back to Basics: Environmental Law for Chemical Engineers, AIChE Chemical Engineering Progress, February 2012
  • Author, Monthly Columns, Slice Magazine, 2011 through 2012 (Recycling perfection; Cutting-edge ecotourism; Anticipating adaptation; Hexa-what?; Adding it up; Taking it outside; Scenic route; Frugally yours; Arts and science; Eco-services rendered; Geothermal journal; Raindrops on roses…; A sustainable new year; A gray (water) area; Harnessing the sun)
  • Co-Author, Energy Supplement: Carbon Capture and Storage – Navigating the Legal Landscape, AIChE Chemical Engineering Progress, August 2011
  • Author, Environmental Regulatory Update, Wiley’s AIChE Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy (quarterly Environmental Division Newsletter, 2007 -2011)
  • Co-Author, Submitting Your First GHG Report, AIChE Chemical Engineering Progress, March 2010
  • Author, Monthly Columns, OKC Downtown Monthly, 2009 through 2010 (Smart: An easy way to appreciate sustainability; Sustainability and energy; Coal. Really?; Water sense makes sense; It looks like greenhouse gas regulation is here, one way or another; Habit forming; Less is more healthy; Recycling cities; Earth Day 2010; Power to the people; Water, water everywhere?; The future is NOW!; Falling from the sky; Mixing it up; Grassroots to massroots; Beyond nutrition)
  • Author, LexisNexis Global Climate Change Special Pamphlet Series (EPA’s Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule; ed. Bradley M Marten, 2010)
  • Author, Even in Oklahoma, you can’t hide from GHG regulations, The Journal Record, December 17, 2009
  • Author, It’s Here: EPA’s Final Mandatory GHG Reporting Rule, ACOEL Blog, September 2009
  • Author, Clock Ticking on Comments in Response to EPA’s Proposed Mandatory GHG Reporting Rule, ACOEL Blog, April 2009
  • Author, American Bar Association’s Nanotechnology Environmental Law, Policy and Business Considerations (Chapter 4: Clean Air Act and Nanotechnology; ed. Lynn L. Bergeson, 2008)
  • Author, Basic Practical in Nanotechnology, Awarded “Best Paper”, ABA SEER Fall Meeting, 2007
  • Author, Clean Air Act Nanotechnology Briefing Paper, ABA SEER Fall Meeting, June 2006
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