Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com, July 27, 2015
By: Teresa Augh Schultz
Gary/Chicago International Airport’s insurance provider wants off the hook for paying for the airport’s defense against a case with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
Old Republic Insurance filed a lawsuit against the airport’s authority on Friday in U.S. District Court in Hammond asking that the court find Old Republic does not owe any money to the airport over the issue and that the airport pay back money Old Republic has already spent. The lawsuit does not say how much the insurance company believes it is owed.
The issue centers around a notice that IDEM sent to the airport in September after two soil samples from the airport’s property showed the presence of arsenic, benzopyrene and PCBs. IDEM also reported an oily sheen on Boeing Ditch, which runs along the northwest end of the airport’s runway.
The notice from IDEM required the airport to investigate and remediate the sources of the pollution.
Old Republic says in the lawsuit that it at first agreed to defend the airport against IDEM in the case, but now says that its contract with the airport specifically states that it is not responsible for any pollution or contamination unless it was caused by a crash or explosion.
The lawsuit argues that the source of the contamination found in the IDEM samples is decades old and had been there long before Old Republic signed with the airport in May 2000.
A representative with the airport could not be reached for comment Monday evening. Dan Glavin, who is representing Old Republic, would not comment on the lawsuit.