Source: http://www.post-gazette.com, August 6, 2014 By: Don Hopey Leaks of fracking waste water from three impoundments in Washington County have contaminated soil and groundwater, prompting the state to issue a violation notice at one site and increase monitoring and testing at another. John Poister, a state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman, said the problems at […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, August 4, 2014 By: George B. Hall, Jr., Phelps Dunbar LLP The U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a district court’s findings that CGL policies issued decades after property contamination do not cover an insured’s liability for environmental damage and that insurers were not in bad faith for their denial of […]

Source: http://www.businessinsurance.com, August 4, 2014 By: Judy Greenwald A construction company’s commercial general liability insurance policy does not provide coverage for faulty workmanship or subcontractor negligence, says an appeals court, in upholding a lower court ruling. Little Rock, Arkansas-based J-McDaniel Construction Co. Inc. purchased a CGL policy from a unit of the Great American Insurance […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, August 1, 2014 By: Carl A. Salisbury, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP The so-called “business risk” exclusions in the standard Commercial General Liability policy are not models of clear drafting.  But it’s surprising, nonetheless, how often courts simply cannot figure out how to apply them correctly even to a simple set of facts.  […]

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.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 […]