Written by David O’Neill, JD, Director of Investigations, PolicyFind
Yours is a middle-sized manufacturing company headquartered in the Midwest. Last year, the bank handling your company’s refinancing required that you conduct a Phase One environmental assessment. The Phase One report showed that past use of degreasers had contaminated the soil and possibly the groundwater beneath your plant. As required by law, you reported the findings to your state’s environmental authority. The state then sent a letter requiring that your company take action to determine the extent to which groundwater or adjoining land may have been polluted. Your attorney explained that your company’s general liability insurance policies from years past could provide coverage for the cost of responding to the state’s directives. So he asked you to provide him with copies of any and all general liability insurance policies in your company’s possession.