Source: Los Angeles Times, June 25, 2014 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com The Albertsons company was ordered Tuesday to pay more than $3 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the grocery chain of illegal disposal, transportation, storage and mismanagement of hazardous waste at its 188 California locations. The company agreed to pay $3.4 million, including $2.7 million […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, June 24, 2014 By: Kami E. Quinn and Michael P. Hatley, Gilbert LLP A jury in Dallas recently awarded $2.9 million to a Texas family in one of the first trials involving allegations that hydraulic fracturing caused nearby residents to suffer health problems and property damage.  Although commentators were quick to point out […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, June 24, 2014 By: Carl A. Salisbury, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP More than 30 years after the insurance industry began adding a so-called “Absolute Pollution Exclusion” to Comprehensive General Liability insurance policies, some courts are still answering the basic questions that arise in coverage disputes about environmental liabilities, such as whether a […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, June 24, 2014 By: Daniel L. Burkard, Burr & Forman LLP On March 28, 2014, the Alabama Supreme Court withdrew its September 20, 2013 opinion and substituted a new decision in Owners Ins. Co. v. Jim Carr Homebuilder, LLC, 2014 WL 1270629 (Ala. Mar. 28, 2013). In its new decision, the Alabama Supreme […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, June 23, 2014 By: Amy B. Briggs, Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP Why it matters In answering certified questions from the Ninth Circuit, Nevada joined numerous other jurisdictions in holding that standard-form “absolute” pollution exclusions are ambiguous as to releases of non-traditional indoor pollutants – in this case carbon monoxide. Reasoning that the […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, June 23, 2014 By: Amy B. Briggs, Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP Why it matters A Texas federal district court delivered a mixed ruling to a policyholder seeking defense and indemnity for a wrongful death suit, finding that a pollution exclusion prohibited defense but not indemnity based on conflicting determinations regarding the cause […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, June 23, 2014 By: Amy B. Briggs, Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP Why it matters Policyholders facing strict liability for environmental cleanup often face denials of coverage for defense costs because regulatory enforcement typically is not in the form of a traditional lawsuit. A Washington appellate court recently joined numerous other courts nationwide […]

Source: The State (Columbia, SC), June 21, 2014 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com The U.S. Army is trying to determine whether pollution is spreading from Fort Jackson to nearby drinking water supplies or if past military activities off the base caused private well contamination in the area southeast of Columbia. What military officials learn could help determine […]

Read here about a lawsuit filed in Tennessee that states an underground mine is polluting the New River.

Source: Dow Jones News Service, June 18, 2014 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com A decades long fight over cleaning up one of the nation’s most contaminated riverbeds has posed a difficult question: how to safely remove enough toxic material from New Jersey’s Passaic River to fill two MetLife Stadiums. The federal government is moving forward with long-stalled […]

Read here about a lawsuit that has been filed in Missouri against Tyson Foods Inc. for pollution of state waters.

Source: http://insurancenewsnet.com, June 19, 2014 Attorneys representing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania claim that gasoline containing the additive known as MTBE caused widespread pollution and harm to Pennsylvania’s waters. The attorneys on Thursday filed separate lawsuits in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas seeking relief and reimbursement from major oil companies and for the alleged misuse […]