Latest Pollution Headlines
All the headlines from our Pollution Topic Page, ordered by recency.
People
Jan 25 2009 // American International Group Inc. (AIG) named Russell Johnston president and CEO of AIG Environmental, a unit of AIG Commercial Insurance. Johnston joined AIG in 1990 serving in senior management positions within...
California Appeals Court Reverses Pollution Liability Decision
Jan 25 2009 // The 4th District of the California Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court decision in a pollution liability case, State of California v. Continental Insurance Co. et al. The decision is likely to influence courts...
Insurer’s Fire v. Pollution Argument Dismissed in Houston Court
Jan 22 2009 // Ohio-based Great American Insurance Company and its policyholder have reached an agreement with respect to all outstanding issues relating to the availability of excess insurance coverage for lawsuits brought by families...
Kellogg Recalls 16 Products Due to Salmonella Risk
Jan 20 2009 // Kellogg Co. has recalled 16 products containing peanut butter due to possible salmonella contamination, adding new urgency to the nationwide outbreak as federal officials confirmed contamination at a Georgia facility that...
Kronenberg Named President of Target Markets Program Administrators
Jan 13 2009 // The Target Markets Program Administrators Association has introduced Bill Kronenberg as its new president. Kronenberg comes to the position of president as Greg Thompson, chairman and CEO of Thomco, steps down after...
XL Expands Pollution Coverage for Contractors
Jan 13 2009 // XL Insurance now offers several program enhancements to its pollution coverages for contractors, extending environmental coverage for all aspects of a contractor’s operations, both on and off the jobsite, the company...
People
Jan 11 2009 // Jim Johnstone has joined Westbrook, Conn.-based The Gowrie Group of Cos. as a producer in the Boat/Yacht department. Jim brings deep marine and sailing industry expertise that will enable Gowrie to broaden its reach into...
People
Jan 11 2009 // Markel Corp. has promoted Henry Lopez to executive vice president for the Markel Midwest region. Lopez has been with Markel since 1995 and most recently was the vice president, director of business development for...
Zurich N.A. Names Dunai to Lead Environmental Unit
Jan 8 2009 // Zurich North America appointed Julie Dunai as head of its Environmental unit. In this role, Dunai will oversee all aspects of the unit’s operations, which deliver insurance solutions addressing professional liability...
California Appeals Court Reverses Pollution Liability Decision
Jan 7 2009 // The 4th District of the California Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court decision in a pollution liability case, State of California v. Continental Insurance Co. et al. Policyholders are entitled to the full policy...
AIG’s Boren, O’Brien to Head New Ironshore Environmental Insurance Unit
Jan 6 2009 // Bermuda-based Ironshore Inc. announced that Joe Boren and John O’Brien have joined as CEO and president, respectively, of its newly established Environmental Insurance facility. The company said the new unit will...
Johnston Named CEO of AIG Environmental; Hanna Named COO
Jan 6 2009 // AIG has named Russell Johnston as president and CEO of AIG Environmental, a unit of AIG Commercial Insurance. Johnston assumes management responsibility for AIG Environmental from Joseph Boren, who has left the company to...
Illinois Attorney General Settles with Hotel Owner in Asbestos Removal Case
Jan 5 2009 // The owner of a now-demolished southern Illinois hotel has agreed to pay $30,000 as part of a settlement with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan over asbestos that she says was improperly removed. The Illinois...
Rates Fall for Mine Subsidence Insurance in Pennsylvania
Dec 31 2008 // Staring tomorrow, homeowners and commercial building owners in Pennsylvania can take advantage of substantially lower rates for mine subsidence insurance, making it more affordable to protect against catastrophic damage...
Colorado Indicts Man in Asbestos Case
Dec 30 2008 // Colorado Attorney General John Suthers announced that the Statewide Grand Jury has indicted Richard Oliver on four felony charges involving asbestos removal and disposal. The charges include causing or contributing to a...
Cleanup of Oklahoma Zinc Smelter to Cost $6.6M; Viacom to Pay
Dec 30 2008 // Heavy-metal contaminants left by an Oklahoma zinc smelter that closed more than eight decades ago will be cleaned up through a $6.6 million plan chosen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The former Tulsa Fuel and...
Group Urges Tennessee Residents to Avoid Ash from Coal Plant
Dec 29 2008 // Authorities need to more strongly warn residents that muck left from a major coal-ash spill in eastern Tennessee could pose health risks, a southern environmental group said Saturday. The Tennessee Department of...
Insurer is ‘Torturing’ Policy Using Pollution Exclusion to Deny Death Claims
Dec 22 2008 // U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal in Houston has been called upon to rule if Great American Insurance Co. is acting within policy and contract language and in accordance with the required utmost good faith in asserting...
Navigators Launches Environmental Unit; AIG’s Robinson Named VP
Dec 22 2008 // Navigators Management Co. has established Navigators Environmental, a new business unit that will focus on underwriting specialized environmental insurance products on a global basis. Adrien Robinson has joined Navigators...
Insurer Arguing Smoke, Pollution – not Fire – Caused Deaths in Houston
Dec 19 2008 // An insurance company is arguing in a Texas court that a policy it issued that excludes payments for pollution prevents the families of three people killed in a 2007 Houston office building fire from being compensated...
