Acknowledgement to XL Environmental
THE CLAIM
A cement manufacturing facility, an XL insured, operated a site for over 100 years. During that ownership, our insured historically had disposed of cement kiln dust on site. The dust pile was closed under state consent order in the late 1980s, requiring capping and groundwater monitoring. Some 20 years later, a local citizen action river keeper organization alleged leachate from the insured’s property was discharging into neighboring wetlands. Testing found the leachate contained a high pH consistent with the cement kiln dust. The citizen action group filed a notice of intent to sue against our insured under the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
THE RESPONSE
XL’s environmental claims counsel and a technical consultant worked collaboratively with our insured to investigate the citizen action group’s claims. The environmental claims counsel retained a third party environmental consultant on the insured’s behalf to confirm the release.
THE SOLUTION
Once the release was confirmed, XL’s environmental claims counsel retained the environmental consultant to work with the insured and state to develop an approved remediation work plan and complete the work on our insured’s behalf. The third party consultant designed and installed both a state approved interim and permanent treatment system. The insured’s Pollution and Remediation Legal Liability Policy paid $4,500,000 for the costs and expenses associated with the remediation. Litigation involving the citizen action group was avoided.