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Environmental Liability

Contacts

Mark J. Plumer
Partner, Washington, DC
T: +1.202.663.9206
David F. Klein
Partner, Washington, DC
T: +1.202.663.9207
Peter M. Gillon
Partner, Miami
T: +1.202.663.9249
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Pillsbury’s Insurance Recovery & Advisory Group deploys its unique legal and technical team to help companies with current environmental disasters and historic contamination recover under liability, pollution and nuclear policies.

Over the past three decades we have successfully resolved dozens of complex, highly publicized, and novel environmental insurance claims. Our clients include companies in the utility, oil and gas, metals and mining, manufacturing, and transportation industries, among others, with claims involving coal ash, manufactured gas plant wastes, metallurgical waste, and the consequences of pipeline ruptures, maritime and rail accidents, fracking, well releases, aviation and aerial spraying, diverse mining-related accidents and other issues. We have handled transboundary claims and the first-ever climate change insurance coverage dispute. In 2018 alone, we handled environmental claims in more than half a dozen countries with claim values exceeding U.S. $7 billion.

Our lawyers pioneered a sophisticated process for settling complex environmental claims with an interdisciplinary in-house team, including a masters-degree environmental engineer, an allocation expert and an ARM-accredited policy analyst.  Aided by our firm’s premier Environmental group, we provide a unique capability to assemble all pieces of the environmental claim puzzle into a single, highly sophisticated presentation easily understood by insurers, arbitral panels and courts. Our goal is to maximize our clients’ net recovery. When this goal cannot be achieved through settlement, we litigate or arbitrate, backed by a history of successfully handling environmental insurance claims in courts and arbitral forums throughout the United States.

Representative Experience

  • Resolved insurance claims for more than a dozen investor-owned electric and gas utilities seeking recovery for environmental exposures, including the first coal ash claims, a coal ash dam failure, and numerous manufactured gas and nuclear claims.
  • Represent several utilities, within and outside of litigation, regarding claims for coal ash liabilities.
  • Represented a significant oil rig stakeholder in pursuing coverage under multiple insurance programs for claims arising from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

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  • Represented a large oil refiner in litigation, including proving rights to coverage after trial and recovering insurance for environmental liabilities related to one of the largest oil refineries in the U.S.
  • Represent a large oil refiner under Bermuda form policies for one of the largest oil spills in U.S. history, including environmental property damage, business interruption, toxic tort, and natural resource damages.
  • Successfully negotiated omnibus environmental insurance claims relating to more than $1 billion in environmental liabilities at sites across North America on behalf of a major U.S. oil and gas company.
  • Represented four other major oil companies in successful omnibus environmental settlement negotiations with their historical liability insurers with cumulative claim value exceeding U.S. $2.5 billion.
  • Represented oil refinery with pollution legal liability policy claims following pipeline ruptures at multiple locations.
  • Represented a Canadian mining and metals company in cross-border litigation of coverage claims for environmental exposures in the U.S. allegedly resulting from operations in Canada.
  • Represent one of the world’s largest base metal miners and refiners in multibillion-dollar global environmental claims against over a dozen insurers. 
  • Negotiated multibillion-dollar environmental claims for several of the world’s largest mining and metallurgical companies against their historical liability insurers. 
  • Negotiated omnibus environmental coverage claims under historical general liability insurance policies for one of the world’s largest gold-mining companies.
  • Represented oil refiner in connection with insurance liability claims arising from the pollution of the public water system.
  • Successfully arbitrated environmental claim for Class I railroad with environmental sites in multiple states.
  • Represented utility with $1 billion in nuclear coverage claims arising out of the failure of a containment structure.
  • Representing company in connection with insurance claims for cost of remediation of radioactive waste at vanadium processing plant.
  • Represent multiple clients involved in brownfield redevelopment and claims for cleanup costs and liability under “cost cap” and environmental impairment liability (EIL) policies.
  • Represented brownfield redeveloper in first of a kind bad faith litigation under pollution legal liability and stop loss policies relating to $100 million brownfield remediation.
  • Structured environmental policies for developers of contaminated brownfield properties and military leases throughout the U.S., including in California, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and Indiana.
  • Represented hospitality industry client with claims under an environmental pollution and contamination policy.
  • Represented United Airlines in complex global insurance recovery effort involving litigation and settlement of environmentally related liability at airport and non-airport sites across the country, and structured policy buyback in chapter 11 proceeding under §363 of the Bankruptcy Code.
  • Represented numerous other major domestic airlines and large number of airports over period of 20 years in obtaining insurance coverage for environmental remediation at over 75 airports, including major fuel spillage at LAX, groundwater contamination at SFO, pervasive contamination at MIA, fuel farm explosion and fire at DEN, remediation associated with the “Big Dig” at BOS, and fuel spills at HOU, to name a few. Litigation in these cases involved issues such as the scope and meaning of so-called absolute pollution exclusion clauses found in most current policies.
  • Counsel multiple clients purchasing pollution legal liability insurance policies.

Practice Area Highlights

  • Pillsbury is recognized as among the most feared law firms for litigation by BTI Consulting Group.
  • Five-time Law360 Insurance Practice Group of the Year (2022, 2020, 2016, 2015, 2010)
  • The National Law Journal counted Pillsbury’s insurance recovery victory for Lion Oil among 2015’s top biggest wins.

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  • Pillbury’s Insurance Recovery & Advisory Team is recognized nationally as well as in DC, Houston, and Los Angeles by Chambers USA, with eight practitioners garnering individual recognition.
  • Pillsbury’s Insurance Recovery & Advisory Team is also recognized as a leading practice by The Legal 500 U.S. and Best Lawyers in America.

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