Source: http://www.lexology.com, January 16, 2014 By: Franklin R. Cragle, III, Hirschler Fleisher In recent years, insurers have begun adding insurance policy riders limiting their obligations in the event of mold.  Such an issue was litigated in Moore v. Safeco Ins. Co. of America, 2013 WL 6489955 (9th Cir. 2013).  In Moore, Safeco had issued a homeowners policy.  […]

Source: http://www.businessinsurance.com, February 6, 2014 By: Judy Greenwald W.R. Grace & Co. has paid more than $63 million to the U.S. government under its bankruptcy reorganization plan to resolve environmental cleanup claims at 39 sites in 21 states. The settlement, announced Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency, has been part […]

Source: http://blogs.courier-journal.com, February 6, 2014 By: James Bruggers Two sites in Kentucky are part of a $63 million bankruptcy settlement involving W.R. Grace & Co, based in Columbia, Md., and the U.S. government, over environmental claims. In all, the settlement involves 39 sites in 21 states. “Cleaning up toxic pollution in communities is the responsibility of […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, January 31, 2014 By: Stephen M. Prignano and Nora A. Valenza-Frost, Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP Construction defect litigation continues to escalate in jurisdictions around the country. As a result, coverage for defective work and ensuing property damage is often sought under various forms of insurance. Occasionally, such claims arise in the first-party context, […]

Source: http://www.businessinsurance.com, January 31, 2014 A Canadian National Railway Co. train carrying fuel oil and other hazardous materials derailed and was leaking in southeast Mississippi on Friday, forcing the evacuation of nearby residents, officials said. No one was injured in the incident which involved the derailment of 21 railcars, eight of which have spilled their […]

Source: http://www.peninsuladailynews.com, February 2, 2014 By: Paul Gottlieb The process leading to cleanup of the abandoned Peninsula Plywood mill site on the city’s waterfront is moving faster than anticipated. The prime but polluted 19-acre site could undergo cleanup in 2015 rather than 2017, as projected earlier by the state Department of Ecology, port Director of […]

Source: http://wislawjournal.com, January 14, 2014 By: Wisconsin Law Journal Staff Wisconsin Court of Appeals Civil Insurance — pollution exclusions This is an insurance coverage dispute concerning a pollution exclusion commonly found in commercial general liability (CGL) insurance policies. Tina and Frederick Preisler filed suit against Kuettel’s Septic Service, LLC; 4 D-K Farm; Duke, Cheryl, Dale, […]

Source: The Salem News (MA), February 1, 2014 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com The owner of the former Crease and Cook Tannery Superfund site in Danvers has agreed to pay nearly $400,000 to settle allegations that he failed to address contamination on the property. The attorney general’s office announced yesterday that as part of a consent judgment, […]

Source: Time-News (Burlington, NC), February 1, 2014 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com Burlington will be issued a violation notice and could face a civil penalty from the N.C. Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Water Resources for the 3.5-million-gallon leak of untreated wastewater into the Haw River earlier this week. A break in the East Burlington Wastewater […]

Read here about a landfill in Illinois that has been ordered to take steps to prevent future leaks.

Source: Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, TX), February 2, 2014 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com A fire at the tire recycling plant in August 2012 discharged waste from thousands of pounds of tires and crumb rubber and thousands of gallons of oil into the soil, public records show. But the Tire Recycling & Processing plant at the city’s […]

Source: Houston Chronicle, February 2, 2014 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com At the end of the night, after officials from the Environmental Protection Agency laid out options for cleaning up dioxin contamination of the San Jacinto River north of the Interstate 10 bridge, residents seemed nearly unanimous: haul all of the polluted sediment away, once and for […]