Source: http://www.lexology.com, August 17, 2015 By: T. McRoy Shelley III, Rogers Townsend & Thomas PC NEW NGC, INC. v. ACE AMERICAN INSURANCE CO., Dist. Court, WD North Carolina 2015 – Google Scholar. Insurance carriers have been pretty successful in denying coverage for Chinese Drywall claims, even in jurisdictions where the “middle ground” approach has been […]

Source: http://www.thelegalintelligencer.com, August 11, 2015 By: Mason Avrigian Jr. and Jeffrey P. Wallack It’s an all-too-frequent fact pattern: construction contractors or subcontractors perform allegedly defective work on a building construction project, resulting in damage not only to the work itself but other aspects of the building. The owner (often an innocent homeowner) has a damaged […]

By: Maydelis Torres, August 17, 2015 The recent outbreak of legionella in New York should cause owners of commercial/habitational and industrial properties to reassess exposures at their facilities.  When assessing this exposure, we are often inclined to only consider pollution coverage related to the healthcare or hospitality industries where we typically see legionella cases in […]

Source: http://www.democratandchronicle.com, August 14, 2015 By: Steve Orr Another former dry cleaner, this one at the eastern edge of downtown Rochester, has been added to New York’s Superfund registry of hazardous waste sites. Operators of the former Elite Vogue Dry Cleaners, previously located in the building at 527-533 East Main Street, are believed to have […]

Source: http://www.marinij.com, August 15, 2015 By: Stephanie Weldy Residents long concerned about chemicals from a former dry-cleaning business at Marinwood Plaza are pushing for immediate cleanup of the area. As studies continue on the spread and severity of the toxin PCE, or tetrachloroethene, and other related compounds associated with the dry cleaning solvent, residents say […]

Source: http://www.latimes.com, August 14, 2015 By: Tony Barboza Soil testing has found that lead contamination from a Vernon battery recycling plant extends over a much larger area than previously estimated, possibly reaching as many as 10,000 homes in southeast Los Angeles County, state environmental officials said Friday. The California Department of Toxic Substances Control had […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, August 11, 2015 By: George B. Hall, Jr., Phelps Dunbar LLP A federal court in North Carolina held that a pollution exclusion excludes coverage for property damage and bodily injury resulting from defective drywall. New NGC, Inc. v. Ace American Ins. Co., 2015 WL 2259172 (W.D. N.C. May 13, 2015). A manufacturer of drywall […]

Source: http://www.bemidjipioneer.com, August 13, 2015 By: Matthew Liedke After years of studying contaminated groundwater left behind from a wood treatment plant in Bemidji’s Industrial Park, the state again is preparing to take corrective action. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has wells set up at 944 Industrial Park Drive SE and 781 Carr Lake Road SE, […]

Source: http://www.infozine.com, August 13, 2015 The suit asks the court to order the cleaning up the contamination and to take any additional actions needed to protect residents in the area. Attorney General Chris Koster has filed suit against Zill, LLC, seeking to compel the company to implement its emergency response plan following an underground petroleum […]

Source: http://greatlakesecho.org, August 14, 2015 By: Eric Freedman Neighbors of a now-defunct dairy operation in northwestern Minnesota have failed for a second time to hold the farm’s insurers responsible for pollution-related problems from manure lagoons on the property. A unanimous state Court of Appeals panel ruled that insurance policies for the former farm near Thief […]

Source: http://mobile.nytimes.com, August 10, 2015 By: Julie Turkewitz The Animas River is the cultural soul of this patch of southwestern Colorado, a sort of moving Main Street that hosts multiple floating parades a year and is typically bustling with rafters and kayakers. Schoolchildren study the river. Sweethearts marry on its banks. Its former name, given […]

Source: http://patch.com, August 11, 2015 By: Simone Wilson The growing list of infected buildings apparently includes one in Manhattan. Twelve New Yorkers have now died and 113 have been infected in the worst Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in NYC history, the mayor announced yesterday. And now that the city’s 2,000-plus water-cooling towers are undergoing mandatory testing […]