David B. Van Slyke is chair of the firm's Environmental Practice Group. A nationally recognized environmental lawyer with a distinguished career at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Washington, D.C., he joined Preti Flaherty in 1991. David is a Partner in the Portland office and a member of the firm’s Management Committee, he is an active participant in all aspects of the firm's environmental practice, including compliance counseling, environmental audits, defense of enforcement actions, project permitting, due diligence in business and lending transactions and environmental risk management.

Having represented the EPA at the negotiating table and participated at the highest levels of the agency's compliance and policymaking efforts, David offers clients a unique, insider's view of Federal environmental law. As Acting Associate Enforcement Counsel for Superfund and, prior to that, as Deputy Associate Enforcement Counsel for Hazardous Waste, he managed the nationwide implementation of the EPA's civil judicial enforcement programs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

He also served as an EPA Section Chief responsible for the development and prosecution of civil hazardous waste cases under CERCLA and RCRA. In this post, he gained extensive litigation experience in discovery, motion practice, trial preparation and settlement negotiations.

While at the EPA, David chaired the CERCLA Lender Liability Rule Task Force, supervised the promulgation of the agency's first prospective purchaser guidance and approved the initial brownfields-type settlements under that policy. Since joining the firm, he has been instrumental in the passage of Maine legislation creating liability protections for lenders and also in the creation of Maine's VRAP program.

Earlier, he was the EPA's lead headquarters attorney litigating the precedent-setting Superfund case, U.S. v. Conservation Chemical, which involved more than 200 defendants and third-party defendants and resulted in a site cleanup estimated to cost $25 million. The case was one of the first to be litigated under Superfund.

His awards while at the EPA included the Department of Justice Commendation for Outstanding Service in 1991; the Assistant Administrator's Enforcement Award for Excellence in 1990; a Silver Medal in 1990; two Bronze Medals; and Superior Performance and Outstanding Achievement Awards in 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989.

Prior to joining the EPA, David was a legal policy analyst for Booz-Allen and Hamilton, Inc., in Washington, D.C., where he helped develop policy on civil judicial and administrative enforcement for the EPA's hazardous waste programs. He also worked for Environmental Research and Technology in Washington as a legislative and policy analyst, focusing on legislative initiatives under the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.

He grew up in northern New York state and graduated cum laude from St. Lawrence University with a joint degree in chemistry and environmental science. In 1981, he earned his law degree at Syracuse University College of Law.

He is a member of the Cumberland County, Maine State and American Bar Associations; he is also a member of the Maine State Bar Association's section on Natural Resources and Environmental Law, and the American Bar Association's section on Environment, Energy and Natural Resources. In addition, David is listed in Woodward-White's 2008 edition of The Best Lawyers in America, is recognized in the Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Business Lawyers, is a Martindale-Hubbell AV rated lawyer, has been designated one of New England's "Super Lawyers" and in September 2008 will be inducted as a Fellow in the American College of Environmental Lawyers.

He has lectured extensively at professional seminars on Superfund and hazardous waste issues and is a State law editor for BNA's Environmental Due Diligence Guide.

Admissions
District of Columbia; U.S. District Court, District of Columbia; Maine; U.S. District Court, District of Maine; U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit

Education
J.D., Syracuse University College of Law, 1981
B.S., St. Lawrence University, 1976 (Cum Laude)