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- Title
Connecticut Supreme Court Holds That Qualified Pollution Exclusion's Exception for "Sudden and Accidental" Discharge Does Not Apply Where Discharge Is Gradual Even if Unintended; Government-Mandated Pollution Cleanup Costs not Covered Under This Form of Exclusion
- Abstract
The article discusses the court case between Buell Industries Inc. and Greater New York Mutual Insurance Co. The Connecticut Supreme Court aligned itself with the approximately half of the states that require a polluting discharge to be abrupt as well as unintentional to fall within the exception to the general prohibition on pollution coverage under the commercial general liability (CGL) policy. In this particular case, the Court was faced with a policy holder seeking a declaration of coverage in connection with pollution that had taken place over many years, including a cleanup of the site mandated by state statutory law. Although the policy holder argued that there should be coverage because it had not intended to pollute the land and groundwater at issue, the Court rejected this view and found the qualified exclusion to be applicable. The Buell Industries decision also placed Connecticut in the camp of jurisdictions that finds the qualified pollution exclusion to be sufficiently clear that the court need not consider extrinsic evidence of meaning, including consideration of any statements made by insurers to regulators concerning the meaning of the exclusion.
- Subjects
ACTIONS &; defenses (Law); BUELL Industries Inc.; GREATER New York Mutual Insurance Co.; POLLUTION; ENVIRONMENTAL law; INSURANCE companies
- Publication
Journal of Risk & Insurance, 2002, Vol 69, Issue 3, p426
- ISSN
0022-4367
- Publication type
Article