Source: http://www.claimsjournal.com, September 30, 2013 By: Burke Coleman Coverage for defective construction claims under commercial general liability (CGL) policies remains an important and frequently contested issue, and the last year has seen significant developments on the issue. Courts have taken varying approaches to the question and applied different parts of the CGL policy as they […]

Source: http://www.mondaq.com, October 14, 2013 By: Robert S. Sanoff, Foley Hoag LLP The battle over the scope of the absolute pollution exclusion in general liability policies continues to be fought in the context of defective drywall manufactured in China. An earlier blog entry discussed a Virginia court that had concluded that there was no coverage […]

Source: The Columbus Dispatch (OH), October 11, 2013 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com Fracking wastewater lagoons the size of football fields could dot eastern Ohio as state officials draft rules for the storage sites. Oil and gas drillers use the lagoons to store millions of gallons of water contaminated with fracking chemicals, toxic metals and radium that […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, October 7, 2013 By: Ruth S. Kochenderfer and Kate M. Riggs, Steptoe & Johnson LLP In Lodwick, L.L.C. v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc., No. 48,312-CA, 2013 WL 5477240 (La. Ct. App. Oct. 2, 2013) (applying Louisiana law), the Second Circuit Court of Appeal of Louisiana granted summary judgment in favor of commercial general liability […]

Source: Clean Air Report, October 10, 2013 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is refuting the American Petroleum Institute’s (API) claims that a recent EDF study on “fugitive” uncontrolled emissions from natural gas production shows that hydraulic fracturing is environmentally safe and that any new EPA air regulations for the sector are unnecessary. […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, October 2, 2013 By: Martha P. Brown and David L. Brown, Nelson Levine de Luca & Hamilton LLC A hotly debated topic in construction defect litigation is whether faulty construction is covered under standard commercial general liability policies. The Alabama Supreme Court weighed in on this debate inOwners Insurance Company v. Jim Carr […]

Source: The Herald-Sun (Durham, NC), October 6, 2013 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com Duke University researchers say they’ve documented elevated levels of a radioactive element where a western Pennsylvania waste plant discharged treated water previously used in natural-gas drilling. Published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, the findings came from a team led by Nicholas […]

Source: Vindicator (Youngstown, OH), October 7, 2013 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com Ohio regulators will soon approve and permit large, exposed centralized impoundments that hold fracking flowback water. These are used widely by oil and gas companies in other states to recycle the waste and serve multiple wells near one another . The impoundments, or pits, which […]

Source: http://louisianarecord.com, October 4, 2013 By: Holland Phillips Several companies have been named in an asbestos lawsuit filed by a man who contracted lung cancer, which he attributes to his exposure to asbestos from the early 1970s. Lones James Gagnard Jr. filed suit against Avondale Industries, Inc., Northrop Grumman Ship Systems Inc., Huntington Ingalls Incorporated, […]

Source: http://www.starnewsonline.com, October 5, 2013 By: Kate Elizabeth Queram Before Kimberly Wood takes a shower, brews a cup of tea or boils water for cooking, she makes a deal with herself: Don’t think about it. Just don’t think about it. Don’t think about how this sip, that bite, the very next drop of water could […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, September 30, 2013 By: John D. Shugrue, Kevin B. Dreher and Emily Garrison, Reed Smith LLP The damage caused by the recent flooding in Colorado is catastrophic and has evermore changed the lives of many who live in and around the affected communities. As the waters recede, the impact of the destruction is […]

Source: Targeted News Service, September 30, 2013 Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com An Iowa County District Court judge today assessed an $80,000 civil penalty (http://www.state.ia.us/government/ag/latest_news/releases/sept_2013/Patel_Santoshi_Consent_Decree.pdf) against a West Des Moines company and its owner for violating state environmental laws in the demolition of a Williamsburg truck stop. Iowa District Court Judge Paul D. Miller assessed the penalty […]