Christopher (“Kip”) Power helps clients comply with environmental laws and regulations while keeping their businesses running profitably. He represents companies when permitting and enforcement disputes arise, and has a history of bringing innovative legal challenges against federal and state agencies that overstepped the bounds of their legal authority or reasonableness.
Kip also defends lawsuits by private parties claiming they have been harmed by natural resource extraction and other industrial operations. Recognizing the value of alternative dispute resolution, he has represented clients in mediation and arbitration, served as mediator in a variety of cases, and was a party-selected arbitrator in a major mineral development dispute that involved nearly 50 hearing days.
Kip has served as counsel in several significant cases under federal and state environmental statutes. These include Francis O. Day Co., Inc. v. West Virginia Reclamation Bd. of Review, 424 S.E.2d 763 (W.Va., 1992) (requiring that an appeal to a deadlocked environmental appeal board be heard by circuit court); Arch Mineral Corp. v. Babbitt, 894 F.Supp. 974 (S.D.W.Va. 1995) (finding that the federal five-year statute of limitations applied to prohibit “permit-blocking” actions by the U.S. Department of Interior); Hughes River Watershed Conservancy v. Johnson, 165 F.3d 283 (4th Cir. 1999) (upholding dam construction approvals issued to the client by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, against challenges raised under the National Environmental Policy Act); Citizens Coal Council v. Norton, 330 F.3d 478 (D.C. Cir. 2003) (representing amicus Interstate Mining Compact Commission in successfully defending an Interior Department policy addressing statutory set-backs); and Ohio Valley Envtl. Coal. Inc. v. Maple Coal Company, Civil Action No. 3:11-0009 (S.D. W.Va., Sept. 2, 2011) (finding that plaintiffs failed to establish standing to assert Clean Water Act citizens suit claims as to one of two locations identified in complaint).
Kip is also a frequent author and speaker on environmental and regulatory issues. He has contributed to a number of publications, including Annual Proceedings of the Energy and Mineral Law Foundation, Aspatore Books’ “Inside the Minds: C-Level Business Intelligence on Understanding Environmental and Land Use Law,” and The State Journal, and also regularly conducts webinars addressing evolving regulations related to natural resource development.