Source: http://insideclimatenews.org, October 13, 2015 By: Lisa Song Research in Pennsylvania shows increased chemicals, but they are not coming from deep underground, making them easier to target. Residential water wells near Marcellus shale fracking in northeast Pennsylvania were more likely to contain higher levels of diesel-like chemicals, especially if the gas well had a history […]

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com, September 25, 2015 by: Fedor Zarkhin Heather Dickinson watched in alarm last year as a man in a backhoe tore down the one-story Southeast Portland house next door, sending a plume of grayish-brown dust above neighboring rooftops. The dust spread everywhere, creeping into Dickinson’s house, caking her home’s exterior walls, and billowing into […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, August 27, 2015 By: Amy B. Briggs, Donna M. Carlton, Christine Spinella Davis, David B. Killalea, Stephen T. Raptis and Robert H. Shulman, Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP Why it matters: A California federal judge has ruled that an insurer had a duty to defend an apartment owner and its construction contractor in connection […]

Source: http://www.insidecounsel.com, September 1, 2015 By: Michael H. Sampson and Caitlin R. Garber Familiarity with insurance coverage is a must. Epidemics, disease outbreaks and pandemics often garner significant media coverage. In 2014, Ebola captured headlines across the world. At other times, the H1N1 flu, measles, Legionnaires’ disease, or some other disease has grabbed the public’s […]

Source: http://www.canadianunderwriter.ca, August 20, 2015 The British Columbia Court of Appeal has ruled partly against four commercial insurance carriers, in a disputed claim on a course–of-construction policy, arising during construction on a hospital in Victoria. The insurers must pay $8.5 million to the contractor, as a result of a subcontractor placing concrete slabs that were […]

Source: http://www.jdsupra.com, August 14, 2015 By: Ashley Harrison Sakakeeny, Carlton Fields Jorden Burt A mason who performed work on a residential project was notified in 2006 that cracks had developed in his work.  Several months later, the mason purchased a commercial general liability policy that expressly excluded coverage for property damage, if an insured “knew […]

Source: http://www.thelegalintelligencer.com, August 11, 2015 By: Mason Avrigian Jr. and Jeffrey P. Wallack It’s an all-too-frequent fact pattern: construction contractors or subcontractors perform allegedly defective work on a building construction project, resulting in damage not only to the work itself but other aspects of the building. The owner (often an innocent homeowner) has a damaged […]

Source: http://www.courthousenews.com, August 10, 2015 By: Cameron Langford Twenty-eight workers injured when an oil rig collapsed, killing one in the Bay of Campeche, sued the rig manufacturer in Federal Court. Plaintiffs include the estate representative of Isidoro Solorzano Castillo, who was fatally injured in the May 5 incident. The workers sued rig maker Friede & […]

Source: http://www.smokymountainnews.com, July 8, 2015 By: Holly Kays A riverside petroleum leak in Cherokee has had cleanup crews scrambling since contamination was first discovered in April — and feeling flummoxed the further they’ve probed into the leak’s potential cause. “When we removed the tanks, there was just one little hole in the diesel tank and […]

Source: http://louisianarecord.com, July 7, 2015 By: Kyle Barnett The City of Breaux Bridge is suing some of the largest oil companies in the world claiming a gasoline additive has tainted the city’s water supply. It is being represented by local firm Boyer Hebert Abels & Angelle, as well as some of the biggest toxic tort attorneys […]

Source: http://www.greeleytribune.com, June 5, 2015 By: Alison Dyer Bluemel While penalties and regulations work to discourage safety violations in the oil and gas industry, accidents and legal fees happen, and a company’s size plays a large role in how they handle insurance to mitigate the damage. Weld County leads Colorado in the number of active […]

Source: http://www.courierpostonline.com, June 7, 2015 By: Ian Adams Santa Barbara County is the latest seaside community to watch its coastline dirtied by an all-too-recognizable black sludge. Early estimates project that more than 100,000 gallons of oil have spilled onto Refugio State Beach via a pipe that burst the morning of May 19. To address the […]