Latest Pollution Headlines
All the headlines from our Pollution Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Atlanta Insurer Increases Environmental Surety Bond Limits
Jun 4 2008 // Atlanta-based American Safety Insurance Services Inc. increased its environmental surety bond limits to $5 million single and $10 million aggregate with no collateral requirements. ASI’s environmental surety bond...
Univeristy of Idaho Officials Want to Start Mine Safety Instruction
Jun 4 2008 // The University of Idaho, seeing a resurgence of mining activity in northern Idaho due to soaring metal prices, is seeking federal funding to bring back mining education programs, a school official said. “The metals...
Johnson Joins Aon Environmental Risks
Jun 4 2008 // Aon announced that environmental insurance specialist Simon Johnson, Ph.D., has joined the firm as director in the Aon Environmental Services Group, a unit of Aon Risk Services. He will be based in London, and will...
Willis Risk Manager Conference Examines Brazil, China Energy Sector
Jun 4 2008 // Willis recently hosted a conference of senior risk managers from the US oil and gas industry at its inaugural Global Risk Challenge seminar in Houston. They concentrated on finding out more about some of the major...
Insurance Companies Face Global Warming Claims
Jun 2 2008 // Corporations exposed to liability for greenhouse gas emissions The industry is about to enter an era of global warming insurance claims. Scientists have been warning about the impact global warming could have if greenhouse...
Environmental Group Recognizes Fireman’s Fund’s Green Efforts
May 22 2008 // Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. is one of five firms recognized by the Environmental Defense Fund and Calif. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for having contributed to the “green” movement. EDF’s recent...
Damages Mount – again – In Storm-battered South Central States
May 19 2008 // Storms have caused more than $3 billion in damages this year, insurance group says As the town of Picher, Okla., began to climb out of the wreckage of the deadly tornadoes that swept across Southeastern Oklahoma, Missouri...
WIAA Insurance Services Adds Access to Environmental Risk Program
May 16 2008 // Rancho Cordova, Calif.-based WIAA Insurance Services has expanded its strategic partnership with San Diego-based Barney & Barney LLC to include a specialty line insurance program with its environmental risk program....
Picher, Okla., Home of Superfund Site, Won’t be Rebuilt, Officials Say
May 15 2008 // State and federal officials toured Picher, Okla., which was ravaged by a tornado on May 10, and essentially drilled the final nail into its coffin. Any financial aid sent to the 800-person community, they said, will only...
Willis Shows Off New London Headquarters Building
May 14 2008 // Since Joe Plumeri took over as Chairman and CEO of Willis in 2000, he’s guided the international broker through turbulent times, making a number of radical and innovative changes along the way. Nowhere is his...
People
May 5 2008 // Patrick G. Ryan, founder and executive chairman Aon Corp., said he intends to retire Aug. 1, 2008. Ryan said the firm’s transition to a new management team under CEO Greg Case is complete. Ryan founded Aon, which has...
Earthquakes Raise Questions of Future Shocks, Public Readiness
May 5 2008 // Just weeks after earthquakes rattled Nevada, the Midwest and the coast of Oregon, and on the heels of the 102nd anniversary of San Francisco’s 1906 earthquake, the public, government officials and insurance industry...
Recycling Plant Fire in South Carolina Creates Environmental Hazard
May 1 2008 // State environmental officials say runoff from the thousands of gallons of water sprayed on a fire at a South Carolina recycling plant may have killed hundreds of fish. The facility where plastic bottles and cardboard are...
Insurance- ‘Green’ Coalition Opposes Expanding Government Catastrophe Bailouts
Apr 30 2008 // An unusual alliance of insurance and environmental groups is urging lawmakers to focus on policies that encourage property mitigation and environmental protection in catastrophe-prone areas, rather than expanding the...
Zurich Introduces New Environmental Liability Policy
Apr 24 2008 // Zurich recently announced that its North American Environmental business unit has added an environmental liability policy named Z Choice to its portfolio of insurance solutions. This menu-driven form enables policyholders...
Mass. Law Limiting Liability for Brownfields Transforms Landscape
Apr 22 2008 // Growing up in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Henry Wainer remembers driving past the old Alden Corrugated Container Co. on trips out of the city. Then one day, the single-story cardboard box factory burned. The city bulldozed...
USGS: Earthquakes Serious Threat in 46 States, Ups Risks in Washington, Oregon
Apr 22 2008 // Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have updated the USGS National Seismic Hazard Maps, and noted that earthquakes remain a serious threat in 46 of the United States. For some areas such as western Oregon and...
Ohio Environmental Officials Say Cleanup from 1999 Tire Fire Finished
Apr 17 2008 // After nine years and more than $32 million, the clean up of Ohio’s largest tire fire has been completed. Ohio Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman Dina Pierce says nothing remains of the millions of scrap...
Elevated Lead Levels Force Closing of 2 N.J. Artificial Turf Ballfields
Apr 17 2008 // Two New Jersey sports fields were closed this week after tests of their artificial turf turned up unsafe levels of lead. It’s the second time since December that a ballfield in the state has been closed over concerns...
Zurich Names Patton, Constantinou to Climate Initiative Team
Apr 14 2008 // Zurich Financial Services Group announced the appointment of Lindene Patton and Elpida Constantinou to key positions within its Climate Office, both will report to Michael Kerner, Global Chief Underwriting Officer and Head...
