Source: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, June 11, 2014 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has fined Hawaii Gas $155,000 for violations of risk management plan regulations and chemical release reporting involving its Kapolei facility. The fine represents a settlement between the EPA and the company. The Kapolei facility manufactures synthetic natural gas for its Oahu […]

Source: http://www.king5.com, June 8, 2014 By: John Langeler Years after a multi-million dollar environmental cleanup in Skykomish was completed, the town’s school still sits on contaminated soil while the district and Burlington Northern Santa Fe negotiate on how to remove the pollutants and compensation. BNSF spent millions to remove more than 77,000 cubic yards of polluted […]

Source: http://www.pennlive.com, June 9, 2014 By: John Beauge Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that Minuteman’s Dauphin County property, although it has a Middletown mailing address, is located in Lower Swatara Township. The state Department of Environmental Protection says it was unaware until criminal charges were filed Friday of allegations that an […]

Source: http://www.wwnytv.com, June 10. 2014 The abandoned buildings of the old Jones & Laughlin mine in the town of Clifton sit decaying on acres of contaminated land that once provided jobs. For the last 37 years it has been an eyesore for the community and motorists passing by. But that is about to change. “It’s […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, June 5, 2014 By: Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt On June 2, 2014, the Washington Court of Appeals handed insurance companies a victory by ruling that many insurance policies do not cover the costs of investigating environmental conditions in response to a letter from the Department of Ecology (“Ecology”) that confirms a site is […]

Source: http://www.gfmag.com, June 6, 2014 By: Paula L. Green The threat of corporate environmental liability incidents is increasing as new regulations—and new risks—take hold. Doing one’s homework may be the best insurance for risk managers aiming to protect their corporate assets against an expanding array of environmental risks. These hazards may be as perennial as […]

Source: http://www.sanluisobispo.com, June 9, 2014 By: Michael Doyle The Supreme Court on Monday dealt a blow to North Carolina families trying to sue over groundwater contamination at a big Marine Corps base. In a technical decision with real-world consequences, the court upheld North Carolina’s limits on how long people have to bring certain pollution-related lawsuits. […]

Source: http://www.businessinsurance.com, June 9, 2014 By: Judy Greenwald The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday held that plaintiffs were time-barred in a pollution case from pursuing their claims under the Comprehensive Environmental Response compensation and Liability Act of 1980, more commonly known as Superfund. At the heart of the high court’s 7-2 ruling in CTS Corp. […]

Source: http://www.thetimesherald.com, June 9, 2014 By: Richard Wolf, USA Today Victims of contaminated water that wasn’t discovered for decades lost their effort to sue polluters at the Supreme Court on Monday in a case that could set back thousands of former Marines and their families with similar claims. The justices ruled 7-2 that North Carolina’s […]

Source: http://www.northjersey.com, June 10, 2014 By: Jeff Green The pharmaceutical giant Hoffmann-La Roche says Clifton may be liable to pay more than $10 million for a cleanup of groundwater contaminants that have been leaking through a decaying sewer line underneath the company’s facility. A Roche-funded analysis of the sewer in April revealed “significant” amounts of […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, May 30, 2014 By: George B. Hall, Jr., Phelps Dunbar LLP The Alabama Supreme Court withdrew a September 2013 opinion addressing coverage for faulty work in a construction defect case and reversed its earlier decision on the meaning of “occurrence” in that context. Owners Ins. Co. v. Jim Carr Homebuilder, LLC, 2014 WL 1270629 […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, June 5, 2014 By: Lane Powell PC A party faced with strict liability under the Washington Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) for the costs of cleaning up environmental contamination often has insurance that might apply, but a lingering question has been at what point is the party’s insurer obligated to defend? The Washington […]