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 […]

Source: http://www.jdsupra.com, July 3, 2014 By: Robert S. Sanoff, Foley Hoagg LLP Pollution exclusions first became routine in liability policies in the early 1970s.  After a decade of often unsuccessful litigation trying to enforce those exclusions, insurers introduced a so called “absolute” pollution exclusion into their commerical liability policies. Given that the language of absolute pollution exclusions […]

Source: http://www.petaluma360.com, July 3, 2014 By: Kevin McCallum Neighbors of Sonoma County’s Central Landfill are threatening to file a federal Clean Water Act lawsuit over the pollution they say has been running off compost piles and fouling surrounding waterways for years. Residents of nearby Happy Acres subdivision say they’ll sue by mid-August unless they can […]

Source: http://www.thefiscaltimes.com, July 6, 2014 By: Naveena Sadasivam For the last eight years, Pennsylvania has been riding the natural gas boom, with companies drilling and fracking thousands of wells across the state. And in a little corner of Washington County, some 20 miles outside of Pittsburgh, EQT Corporation has been busy – drilling close to […]

Source: Ironshore Environmental, Environmental Energy Newsletter, July 2014 “Lessons Learned” Parr vs. Aruba Petroleum A Dallas jury recently awarded $2.9 million dollars to a family that claimed serious health injuries related to Aruba Petroleum’s nearby oil and gas operations. Although the wells had been hydraulically fractured, the case concerned exposure to air pollutants associated with […]

Source: http://www.wacotrib.com, July 1, 2014 By: J.B. Smith The final bill for cleaning up a former pesticide plant site near McLane Stadium is coming due at today’s Waco City Council meeting, and the total cost is more than three times what the council expected. The council Tuesday will sign off on a change order of […]

Source: http://www.nj.com, June 30, 2014 By: Kristina Pritchett Crews are continuing to work to remove an oil-like substance from Spring Lake off of Pitman-Downer Road and determine where it came from. Nearly 1,000 gallons of the substance, which seems to be a type of home heating oil according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection spokesman […]

Source: Norwalk Reflector (OH), July 1, 2014 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced that the former land owners, business owner, and construction company involved in the operation and the demolition of the now-defunct DLH Plating on Cleveland’s east side will pay $100,000 total for past air pollution and hazardous waste violations. “Although […]