People
Doug Steding
Founder and Principal
In addition to his legal degree, Steelhead Law founder and principal Doug Steding possesses a Ph.D. in earth sciences and geochemistry. He has published legal articles and presented on ocean and tidal energy developments, wood waste cleanup and international development of sustainable energy sources. He has also published scientific papers and presented on water and atmospheric pollution due to mercury, lead and other metals. Doug’s rare combination of a science background and years of legal experience allow him to look at complex scientific problems from a unique advocacy perspective.
Doug lives in Queen Anne with his wife and young son. When not practicing law, he enjoys spending time with his family, flyfishing, surfing, scuba diving and exploring.
Legal Practice
Doug conducts an environmental law and litigation practice. He represents landowners, real estate developers, construction companies, industrial facilities and other businesses on issues related to hazardous waste, contaminated land and regulatory compliance.
Doug also possesses focused experience in representing utilities, telecommunications and cable companies in obtaining rights-of-way and franchises from municipalities and counties.
Background
Before forming Steelhead Law, Doug practiced with the law firm Stoel Rives LLP. He also served as an intern in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 10 Office of Regional Counsel and as a legal extern to the Washington Environmental Council.
As a scientist, Doug conducted graduate and postdoctoral research on the fate and transport of inorganic contaminants in the environment and worked as a hydrologist with the United States Geological Survey.
Education
University of Washington School of Law, J.D., 2005
- Associate Editor in Chief, Pacific Rim Law and Policy Journal
- First place, Moot Court Appellate Advocacy Competition
University of California, Santa Cruz, Ph.D., 2001
University of California, Los Angeles, B.S., 1997
Admitted:
Washington (2005)
Eastern District of Washington
Legal Writings
Jennie L. Bricker, John A. McKinsey and Douglas J. Steding, The Law of Ocean Energy, Chapter 4, Ocean and Tidal Energy Lease Agreements, Stoel Rives “Law of Energy” Series (2008).
Steven J. Thiele, Douglas J. Steding and Christopher R. Hermann, Wood Waste & Water: Washington State's New Wood Waste Cleanup Push, The Water Report, Issue 39 (May 15, 2007).
Douglas J. Steding, Russian Floating Nuclear Reactors: Lacunae in Current International Environmental and Maritime Law and the Need for Proactive International Cooperation in the Development of Sustainable Energy Sources, 13 Pac. Rim L. & Pol’y J. 711 (2004).
Legal Presentations
Douglas J. Steding, OTEC Facility Development: Domestic and International Law Considerations, Energy Ocean, Turtle Bay, Hawaii (2007.)
Scientific Writings
Steding, D.J. and A.R. Flegal, Mercury Concentrations in Individual Rain Events on the West Coast of North America: A Study of Local and Long Range Inputs of Mercury to Rain, 107 J. Geophysical Res., Atmospheres, No. D24, 4764 (Dec. 19, 2002).
Steding, D.J., Dunlap, C.E., and A.R. Flegal, Cover Article: New Isotopic Evidence for Chronic Lead Contamination in San Francisco Bay: Implications for the Persistence of Past Industrial Lead Emissions in the Biosphere, 97 Proceedings of the Nat‘l Acad. of Sci. 11181 (Oct. 10, 2000).
Kuwabara, J.S., Berelson, W.M., Balistrieri, L.S., Woods, P.F., Topping, B.R., Steding, D.J., and D.P. Krabbenhoft, Benthic Flux of Metals and Nutrients into the Water Column of Lake Coeur d'Alene, Idaho: Report of an August, 1999 Pilot Study, U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Investigations Rep. 00-4132, (2000).
Scientific Presentations
Steding, D.J., Conaway, C.H., Mason, R.P., Kelly, R.W., Long, S.E., and A.R. Flegal, Estimate of Potential Mercury Emissions to the Atmosphere from Crude Oil Processing, 6th Int‘l Conf. on Mercury as a Global Pollutant, Minamata, Japan (2001).
Steding, D.J., Dunlap, C.E., and A.R. Flegal, New Isotopic Evidence for Chronic Lead Contamination in the San Francisco Bay and Implications for the Persistence of Past Industrial Lead Emissions in the Biosphere, Int‘l Conf. on Heavy Metals in the Env’t., Ann Arbor, MI. (2000).
Flegal, A.R., Dunlap, C.E., and D.J Steding (invited speaker), Two Centuries of Lead Contamination in San Francisco Bay: Isotopic Tracers of Historic Inputs of Industrial Lead Indicate Future Inputs into the Next Millennium, Society of Envtl. Toxicology and Chemistry 20th Annual Meeting, Philadelphia (1999).
Legal Practice
Doug conducts an environmental law and litigation practice. He represents landowners, real estate developers, construction companies, industrial facilities and other businesses on issues related to hazardous waste, contaminated land and regulatory compliance.
Doug also possesses focused experience in representing utilities, telecommunications and cable companies in obtaining rights-of-way and franchises from municipalities and counties.