Source: http://www.denverpost.com, July 8, 2014 By: Howard Pankratz Two companies accused of charging customers thousands of dollars for removal of asbestos-contaminated materials from their homes and buildings and then illegally dumping or abandoning the waste in Arapahoe and Weld counties have pleaded guilty to felony charges and agreed to pay $1 million in fines. Tri […]

Source: http://insurancenewsnet.com, July 10, 2014 By: Sarah Desantis, The News-Item, Shamokin, PA The Line Mountain Board of Directors decided Tuesday night to forgo purchasing an environmental liability policy that would have cost the district $7,324.86. The policy through Admiral Insurance Company would have provided a $1,000,000 limit of insurance with a $10,000 per claim deductible […]

Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 9, 2014 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com The water contamination that has triggered the shutdown of five public water wells in Gloucester County has been found at even higher levels in several private wells. Tests commissioned by the company believed responsible for the spread of perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) show that some private […]

Source: Wichita Eagle (KS), July 9, 2014 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com A chemical used to treat the city of Wichita’s water leaked Wednesday morning through a corroded drain pipe that hadn’t been used in decades and into the Arkansas River, city officials said. State health officials have determined the leak isn’t a health risk for the […]

Source: http://www.pca.state.mn.us, July 7, 2014 The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is proposing to add two contaminated sites to Minnesota’s Superfund list. By adding the former Exclusive Cleaners site in Worthington (Nobles County) and the Spring Park Municipal Wells site in Spring Park (Hennepin County) to the list, state funding will be available to investigate […]

Source: http://www.lillienews.com, July 7, 2014 Funds will help with asbestos removal at Hamm’s site As part of a nearly $2.6 million brownfield cleanup package, the Metropolitan Council approved three East Side projects for cleanup. The cleanups will “help create jobs, clean up land for redevelopment, increase tax base and promote transit-oriented development and private investment […]

Source: http://www.jdsupra.com, July 8, 2014 By: Charles Pernicka, Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP Design professionals, such as architects and engineers, often seek to avoid liability to third party property purchasers for their negligence by arguing that their role in preparing plans was too remote for a duty to be imposed upon them. […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, July 7, 2014 By: John O’Connor and Rebecca S. Liu, Steptoe & Johnson LLP In Liberty Mutual Insurance Company v. Linn Energy, L.L.C., __ Fed.Appx. __, 2014 WL 2925161 (5th Cir. June 30, 2014), the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, applying Texas law, affirmed the district court’s summary judgment […]

Source: http://insurancenewsnet.com, July 6, 2014 By: Mike Salinero, Tampa Tribune, FL Angela Gray spent $200,000 building her dream house, but what she ended up with is a nightmare. Gray, 45, said she is bankrupt from trying to win compensation for shoddy workmanship on the house she had built on land she owned near Plant City. […]

Source: http://www.jdsupra.com, July 7, 2014 By: Mark D. Hudak In a unanimous decision, California’s Supreme Court has ruled that the principal architects for a condominium project may be sued directly by a condominium homeowners association for design defects. The case, decided July 3, 2014, is Beacon Residential Community Association v. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP, […]

Source: http://www.claimsjournal.com, July 3, 2014 A recent decision by a New York appeals court found that an insurer had no duty to defend construction defect claims despite an expanded definition of “occurrence” within an Owner Controlled Insurance Program (OCIP). National Union Fire Insurance Company insured the construction project through an OCIP which covered the property […]

Source: http://www.stltoday.com, July 6, 2014 By: Jacob Barker Dealing with the hazardous chemicals dumped years ago in Metro East landfills could end up costing nearly 250 businesses, government agencies and nonprofit groups in the region — even though most never operated east of the Mississippi River. Solutia Inc. and Pharmacia LLC — two companies formerly […]