Lawyers / Professionals

 
Patricia F. Sharkey       
Partner
77 West Wacker Drive
Suite 4100
Chicago, Illinois 60601-1818
T: 312.750.8601
F: 312.698.4577
psharkey@mcguirewoods.com
 

Ms. Sharkey has practiced in environmental law since 1980. She began her career in environmental law in government -- the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Illinois Attorney General's Office and the Illinois Pollution Control Board. Thereafter, she spent 19 years with Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw as part of a team that built a small practice group into a global environmental practice. She joined McGuireWoods in August 2007.

She regularly represents clients in litigation before federal, state and administrative tribunals and advises on environmental permitting, compliance and policy. Her experience includes a variety of work for companies in the power, chemical, oil, ethanol, secondary aluminum, waste management, and real estate sectors.

She focuses on complex air pollution permitting, innovative technology and energy projects, and landfill and contaminated property matters. She also has significant experience managing environmental due diligence in real estate transactions and corporate mergers and acquisitions, spearheading legislative and regulatory initiatives, and developing corporate environmental policy and procedures.


Representative Matters
  • Litigation
    • Obtained voluntary dismissal of a citizen suit in the U.S. District Court alleging "sham" Clean Air Act minor source permitting and threatening to enjoin construction of a new ethanol manufacturing plant.
    • Prevailed on Motion for Summary Judgment in a precedent-setting case involving the applicability of generic Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) regulations to a refinery wastewater treatment facility.
    • Obtained site-specific regulatory relief for three manufacturers in appeal of USEPA's Federal Implementation Plan for Illinois in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.
    • Appealed and obtained revisions to Clean Air Act "Best Available Control Technology" (BACT) determinations and PSD emission limits for secondary aluminum facilities in Ohio and Indiana.
    • Represented a municipality in the contested siting of a waste transfer station before the Illinois Pollution Control Board.
  • Permitting
    • Obtained "New Renewable Energy Facility" registrations under North Carolina's new renewable energy portfolio standards (RPS) for two power plants fired with a combination of coal, biomass and tire-derived fuel, including demonstrations of biomass content and Best Available Control Technology.
    • Represented ethanol manufacturing plants in construction and expansion permit proceedings and associated litigation.
    • Defended against environmental justice claims raised in permitting of new ethanol manufacturing plant.
    • Represented ethanol producers in contentious Clean Water Act NPDES permit proceedings for two new ethanol production facilities in Illinois, including presentation of expert witnesses and extensive anti-degradation assessment.
    • Obtained all environmental permits for a peaker power plant constructed on a "greenfield" site, including a PSD Construction Permit and low NOx technology exemption from the NOx SIP Call "Cap-and-Trade" program.
    • Negotiated state and federal permit conditions in initial Clean Air Act Title V permits for five secondary aluminum facilities in four states.
    • Advised on permitting of co-generation systems located at Title V major source facilities, including systems generating power that is sold to the grid.
    • Developed "master conditions" for Title V permits for Fortune 500 manufacturer with eight facilities in one state.
    • Provided Title V Permit tutorial for client's environmental managers.
  • Due Diligence
    • Directed environmental due diligence for a Global Fortune 500 company's successful bid to acquire 50% interest in 13 power plants in six states, including evaluation of the future impact of Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, anticipated national greenhouse gas legislation, and California's SB1368 and AB32.
  • Rulemaking
    • Proposed and obtained site-specific "delisting" of landfill leachate as a hazardous waste, minimizing transportation and disposal costs.
    • Proposed and obtained rule changes expanding exemptions from air permitting.
    • Obtained adjusted standards for manufacturing facility clients, including written comments, representation in hearing, and development and presentation of expert witness testimony.
    • Represented a group of clients in rulemaking creating Illinois' voluntary risk-based clean-up program, the Illinois' Site Remediation Program, and the Illinois Tiered Approach to Clean-Up Objectives, including cross examination of expert witnesses, presentation of testimony, and submission of legal and technical comments.
    • Obtained streamlined rules for bioreactor landfills in state rulemaking on Research, Development & Demonstration (RD&D) facility permits.
  • Contaminated Property Transactions
    • Advised a lender during and after foreclosure, throughout asbestos abatement, building demolition, soil investigation, and remediation on a large property on Chicago's Gold Coast, which is listed as a USEPA CERCLIS site due to the presence of historic thorium contamination.
    • Advised lender financing the redevelopment of a multi-block area of potentially contaminated property in Atlanta, including enrollment of multiple properties in the Georgia Brownfield Program.
  • Waste Management
    • Represented two former municipal landfills in closure and post-closure permit proceedings, response to state remedial action priority site listing, soil and groundwater investigations and remediation, community relations planning, compliance with National and State Contingency Plan requirements, and filing environmental insurance claims.
    • Negotiated contracts and permits for landfill gas-to-energy systems at both landfills.
    • Defended secondary aluminum manufacturer against cease and desist order and settled dispute threatening to close on-site landfill alleged to contain D001 ignitable and D003 reactive waste.
    • Advised and represented multiple manufacturers undertaking Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste Corrective Actions.

Practices & Industries
Honors
  • Named ". . . one of the premier air pollution lawyers in the state," Who's Who Legal, Illinois, 2008
  • Chemical Industry Council of Illinois
    • Regulatory Affairs Committee Award, 2006
    • Board of Directors Award, 1999

Publications
Speaking Engagements
  • "EPA's Renewable Fuel Standard: Rulemaking Update," lllinois Farm Bureau Annual Meeting, December 7, 2009
  • "Doing No Harm: The Impact of Climate Change Regulations and Other Environmental Issues on Healthcare Facilities," McGuireWoods LLP Teleconference, October 21, 2009
  • "Clean Air Act Update: The Evolving Climate Change Debate," Lorman Education Services Teleconference, September 16, 2009
  • "Summer 2009 Update: Issues in the Evolving Climate Change Debate," Environmental Bankers Association, August 6, 2009
  • "How to Translate Carbon Reducing Technology into Tradable Emissions Credits: Issues in Qualifying Emission Reductions for Sale & Trade," American Bar Association Cleantech & Climate Change Committee Webinar, June 3, 2009
  • "NESHAPs 2.0: Air Toxics Revisited," Chemical Industry Council of Illinois, March 31, 2009
  • "Prospects for Greenhouse Gas Regulation Affecting Manufacturers," Three Rivers Manufacturers' Association, January 29, 2009
  • "Regulation of CO2 Under the Clean Air Act," McGuireWoods LLP Teleconference, January 16, 2009
  • "Identifying Emission Sources, Permit Requirements and Applicable Regulations" and "Area Source NESHAP," Teledyne, Inc. EH&S Managers' Annual Environmental Risk Management Training Conference," September 2008
  • "Carbon Smart Underwriting," Co-authored with D. Rieser, Environmental Bankers Association, August 2008
  • "Greenhouse Gas Valuation in Deals & Financing," McGuireWoods 8th Annual Environmental Issues Symposium, May 2008
  • "Air Quality Management," Teledyne, Inc. EH&S Managers' Annual Environmental Risk Management Training Conference, September 2007

Professional Affiliations
  • American Bar Association
    • Section on Environment, Energy & Resources
    • Section on Science & Technology Law
  • Air & Waste Management Association
  • Chicago Bar Association
    • Environmental Law Committee
  • Chemical Industry Council of Illinois
    • Regulatory and Legislative Affairs Committee
  • National Association of Women Lawyers
  • National Association of Professional Women
 

EDUCATION

University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, J.D. 1980

University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, B.A. 1974

 
 

ADMITTED

Illinois 1981

Oregon 1980 (inactive)

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois 1989

U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit 1990

U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois 2006