Source: Dow Jones News Service, March 18, 2015 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com A Texas town wants to know if bankrupt battery maker Exide Technologies Inc. (XIDEQ) will stick to its promise to clean up land and water polluted by its now-shuttered lead recycling plant. The city of Frisco, Texas, objected to Exide’s restructuring proposal Monday, seeking […]

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com, March 17, 2015 By: Ben Unglesbee The City of San Diego has filed a lawsuit against Monsanto Company and two related companies over long-standing chemical pollution in San Diego Bay. San Diego, together with the San Diego Unified Port District, filed the suit Friday in U.S. District Court in California’s Southern District. Listed […]

Source: http://www.steamboattoday.com, March 17, 2015 By: Matt Stensland It could take three weeks for a crew to excavate the area where 42,000 pounds of hazardous chemicals were spilled after a tanker truck rolled over Friday on Rabbit Ears Pass. The trucking company that was hauling the chemicals has hired Custom Environmental Services to clean up […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, March 16, 2015 By: Richard C. Bennett, Cozen O’Connor Building construction frequently generates silica dust, a substance that can cause lung disease and other respiratory problems.  Abrasive sand-blasting or jack hammering as well as concrete drilling and block cutting can lead to its release.  In Broome Cty. v. Travelers Indem. Co., – N.Y.S.2d […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, March 13, 2015 By: Sarah D. Gordon and Jessica L. Urban, Steptoe & Johnson LLP In Williams v. Employers Mutual Casualty Co., No. 4:13-CV-2393, 2015 WL 892556 (E.D. Mo. Mar. 2, 2015), the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, applying Missouri law, granted several insurers’ motions for judgment on the […]

Source: Star-Ledger (NJ), March 14, 2015 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com Newark officials announced Friday that the city has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. left the Ironbound section of the city contaminated with toxic chemicals for decades and never cleaned it up. In a statement, the city […]

Source: Cumberland Times-News (MD), March 16, 2015 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com A bill that would impose strict liability on gas drillers for injuries and property damage is advancing in the General Assembly. On a 7-4 vote, the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee sent the bill to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation. The standards that Senate […]

Source: Los Angeles Times, March 12, 2015 Posted on: http://fpn.advisen.com Exide Technologies will immediately begin shutting down its embattled battery recycling plant in Vernon after reaching an agreement, which federal officials announced Thursday, that allows the company to avoid facing criminal prosecution for decades of pollution. Under the deal between federal officials and the company, […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, March 9, 2015 By: Jeffrey D. Stemerick, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP Hoosier land owners sleep well at night knowing that they are insured against liability for environmental contamination because Indiana does not enforce the standard pollution exclusion clauses found in many insurance polies. State Automobile Mut. Ins. Co. v. Flexdar, Inc., 964 […]

Source: http://www.natlawreview.com, March 11, 2015 In Advanced Waste Services, Inc. v. United Milwaukee Scrap, LLC, 2014-AP-1169, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals held that the “total pollution exclusion” bars insurance coverage for occurrences caused by pollutants regardless of what entity dispersed the pollutants. In that case, United Milwaukee Scrap (“UMS”) contracted with Advanced Waste Services (“AWS”) to […]

Source: http://www.jdsupra.com, March 9, 2015 By: Kristin Suga Heres, Zelle Hoffmann Voelbel & Mason LLP Recent media reports alleging that certain laminate flooring manufactured in China and distributed in the U.S. contains unsafe levels of formaldehyde may have a familiar and frightening ring to them, particularly for insurers that weathered years of coverage litigation involving […]

Source: http://insurancenewsnet.com, March 10, 2015 By: Keith Eddings, The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, MA Lawsuits over the construction of two city schools built as long as 14 years ago are inching through Superior Court, where the city is seeking about $14 million in damages. One of the jobs — at the Guilmette School, where the city […]