Source: http://www.nhregister.com, October 1, 2014 By: Luther Turmelle The Coast Guard is preparing for an environmental cleanup inside the former English Station power plant after oil from the facility apparently went into the Mill River last month. The Coast Guard was contacted Sept. 15 by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection after several […]

Source: http://www.northjersey.com, October 2, 2014 By: Meghan Grant The Attorney General’s and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) offices announced that Occidental Chemical Corp., identified by the state as a principal defendant, has agreed to pay New Jersey $190 million to resolve its liability for cleaning up the Passaic River. The settlement comes on the tail […]

Source: http://www.stites.com By: Stephen M. Reams, Stites & Harbison Client Alert Florida enacted legislation making limitation of liability clauses for design professionals enforceable when certain conditions are met.  The new law, passed last year, reverses the decision of a Florida appellate court that ruled in 2010 that any limitation of liability clause purporting to limit […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, September 30, 2014 By: Kevin Kamraczewski and Megan E. Whitehill, Cozen O’Connor In interpreting the scope of the pollution exclusion, one question seems to appear in case after case — what exactly does the pollution exclusion exclude? In State Farm Fire & Casualty Company v. Dantzler, 289 Neb. 1 (2014), the Supreme Court of […]

Source: http://www.jsonline.com, July 13, 2014 By: Don Behm The abandoned Milwaukee Die Casting plant’s legacy of toxic chemical contamination is being fully revealed this year in its demolition — a cleanup that could cost former operators as much as $10 million, federal and state environmental officials said. Much of the expense will come from properly […]

Source: http://www.propertycasualty360.com, September 25, 2014 By: Amanda Duncan Environmental issues and regulations impact coverage There are literally tens of thousands of medical facilities throughout the U.S., from large hospital campuses to corner drugstores. The healthcare industry is growing rapidly and facilities will continue to expand to match patient and technology demands. As the industry evolves, […]

Source: http://www.jdsupra.com, September 25, 2014 By: Michael McNaughton, Sedgwick LLP The insurance and construction industries have disagreed about coverage claims involving faulty workmanship for many years.  Contractors believe their CGL insurance policies should always cover property damage caused by defects and poor workmanship, and insurance carriers resist insuring business risks that are solely within a […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, September 25, 2014 By: Peter D. Laun, Jones Day On September 18, 2014, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected the petition for allowance of appeal filed by National Union of the Superior Court’s decision in Indalex Inc. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh PA, 83 A.3d 418, 421 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2013).  […]

Source: Los Angeles Times, September 28, 2014 Posted on: http://fpn.advisen.com Port of Los Angeles authorities are beginning an extensive harbor cleanup in the aftermath of a fire that burned through much of a wharf and released toxic gases and smoke into surrounding communities. The largest fire at the port in decades erupted Monday night, devouring […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, September 22, 2014 By: Amy B. Briggs, David B. Killalea , Stephen T. Raptis, Robert H. Shulman and Susan P. White, Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP Why it matters A federal district court in Texas strictly construed a pollution exclusion in finding that hazardous materials embedded in mud were not “dispersed” and thus […]

Source: http://www.nj.com, September 22, 2014 By: Louis C. Hochman Dozens of contaminated buildings at the 263-acre Radiation Technology Superfund site — once used for testing and developing rocket engines and propellant — will be knocked down under a plan announced Monday. In all, 34 buildings and structures at the Lake Denmark Road property — contaminated […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, September 18, 2014 By: Cynthia A.M. Stroman, King & Spalding LLP For the past several years, the rapid growth of oil and natural gas production from shale and other unconventional sources has prompted vocal and often sensationalized concerns regarding the potential for migration of gas from hydraulic fracturing operations into sources of drinking […]