Sorenson, Benjamin

Ron Janke has practiced environmental law since 1974 and has served as the principal environmental lawyer for many companies. He has experience with the application of environmental laws to many industrial and commercial sectors, including chemical manufacturing, ore and coal mining, ferrous and nonferrous metal manufacturing, coatings, publishing, food processing, banking, transportation, and waste management.

Ron has broad experience in the major state and federal programs regulating air emissions, wastewater discharges, solid and hazardous wastes, and hazardous materials storage and handling. He has represented clients at more than 100 National Priority List sites and at scores of other sites remediated under federal or state laws. Additionally, he has advised buyers, sellers, and lenders in assessing environmental liabilities in the sale of business operations and real estate. He has organized, supervised, and evaluated over 200 reviews for acquisitions, including numerous reviews conducted on a multistate or multinational basis. He also has advised several companies on how to structure and conduct compliance audits of existing operations.

Ron has represented clients in a wide range of litigated matters, including a variety of state and federal environmental enforcement actions, as well as in private citizen suits seeking to enforce environmental laws. He has advised clients in state, federal, and private actions seeking the remediation of or recovery of remediation costs for waste disposal sites and contaminated industrial and commercial properties under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act; the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; and similar state statutes. Ron also has represented companies in appeals of permits or challenges to the adoption of state or federal regulations.

Ron has served on advisory committees of the U.S. EPA and the Ohio EPA. He is chairman of the Ohio Water Resources Council Advisory Group and a past chairman of the American Bar Association Business Law Section, Environmental Controls Committee. He is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association (Environmental Law Committee), the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association (Environmental Law Committee), the Environmental Law Institute, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce (Energy and Environment Committee). Ron lectures extensively on environmental compliance and litigation and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers, The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers, Inside Business' "Leading Lawyers," Ohio Super Lawyers, and Northern Ohio Live's "Top Lawyers."