Source: http://www.sfgate.com, August 4, 2014 By: Jaxon Van Derbeken Top Caltrans officials are expected to respond Tuesday to accusations that they “gagged and banished” engineers who identified construction problems on the new Bay Bridge eastern span and that the agency failed to maintain basic quality control on the project. In advance of a state Senate hearing, […]

Source: http://www.pri.org, August 2, 2014 By: Adam Wernick A good number of people in Pennsylvania no longer have drinkable well water. Among them is John Fair, who lives north of Pittsburgh in Butler County. He has to get his drinking water through a “water drive” organized by neighbors in his community, called the Woodlands. Some Woodlands […]

Source: http://www.jdsupra.com, August 1, 2014 By: Peter Dworjanyn, Collins & Lacy, P.C. The S.C. Court of Appeals recently applied the “your work” exclusion in a declaratory judgment action arising out of a construction defect suit to find the policy did not provide coverage. In Precision Walls v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co., Op. No. 5250 […]

Source: http://www.newsday.com, July 30, 2014 By: Sarah Armaghan The Town of Islip next month will begin cleaning up the first of several sites where toxic materials have been found after a probe launched by the Suffolk County district attorney into illegal dumping prompted the town to do its own review of more than 100 town-owned […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, July 26, 2014 By: Anthony B. Cavender, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP The First Court of Appeals, sitting in Houston, has affirmed the decision of an arbitration panel which had ruled in favor of the claims for personal injury and property damages resulting from Forest Oil Corporation’s oil and gas exploration and production […]

Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine), July 31, 2014 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached a $5.7 million settlement with ConAgra to pay for cleanup of the former A.C. Lawrence Leather Co. in South Paris, where a series of tannery sludge lagoons had been covered with gravel and began leaching into the […]

Source: http://thetimes-tribune.com, July 30, 2014 By: Brendan Gibbons Five natural gas wells in Bradford County have leaked methane for years because of persistent casing and cement problems, according to state Department of Environmental Protection records. In May, a DEP inspector found combustible gas flowing through vents connected to the cement between layers of pipe. The […]

Source: http://www.heraldonline.com, July 29, 2014 Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG announced today that Allied World North America launched its new Architects and Engineers Professional Liability line of business for the U.S. market. Coverage will be offered for four distinct areas, within the construction industry: architects and engineers professional liability, constructors professional liability, project specific […]

Source: http://www.jdsupra.com, July 2, 2014 By: Joan Cotkin, Nossaman LLP In an unpublished appellate decision from the state of Washington, on May 5, 2014, the Washington Court of Appeals affirmed a summary judgment in favor of a CGL insurer, Western National Assurance, relieving it of any obligation to defend the contractor insured, Shelcon Construction against […]

Source: http://businessinsavannah.com, July 16, 2014 By: Nicholas J. Laybourn Commercial property owners and environmental liability Despite popular perception, high-hazard businesses such as industrial sites and manufacturing facilities are not the only commercial properties that face environmental risks. Convenience stores, gas stations, hotels and resorts, shopping centers and office complexes may also be at risk of […]

Source: http://www.mondaq.com, July 25, 2014 By: Bradley J. Lorden, Proskauer Rose LLP Companies such as homebuilders, construction companies and contractors face significant financial risk from bodily injury and property damage claims arising from allegedly faulty workmanship or construction defects.  Although these companies purchase commercial general liability (“CGL”) policies to manage those risks, they often face […]

Source: http://www.insurancejournal.com, July 28, 2014 By: Phil Milford RPM International Inc., whose bankrupt Bondex and Specialty Products units may have faced liabilities of more than $1 billion, said it tentatively settled asbestos claims for $797.5 million. The money, allocated over a four-year period, will go into a trust to benefit personal injury claimants, the Medina, […]