Latest Pollution Headlines
All the headlines from our Pollution Topic Page, ordered by recency.
People
May 16 2011 // Rich Poirier, a 20-year insurance industry veteran, was named vice president of claims at Church Mutual Insurance Co. Poirier previously served in senior staff roles at Liberty Mutual Agency Markets Corp. and Wausau...
Louisiana Seeks Large Share of Oil Spill Liability Money
May 6 2011 // State officials say Louisiana was hurt more than other states by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and so should get more money than other states from companies responsible for the disaster. Garret Graves, who leads the...
BP to Pay $85 Million to Settle Alaska Oil Spill Case
May 5 2011 // BP has agreed to pay a $25 million civil penalty, as well as spend $60 million on enhanced safety measures, to settle a federal probe of a pipeline oil spill on Alaska’s North Slope in 2006, the U.S. government...
People
May 2 2011 // Marsh & McLennan announced several changes to its senior management team, including the appointment of Daniel S. Glaser, 50, to the newly created position of group president and chief operating officer. Glaser had...
Asbestos: Japan Tsunami’s other Hidden Danger
Apr 28 2011 // Inside the chunks of slate and wallboard smashed and scattered by Japan’s tsunami hides a health risk that has been overshadowed by contamination from a leaking nuclear plant: the odorless and nearly invisible threat...
Hylant Group Promotes Kranz, Bryant in Environmental Practice Group
Apr 27 2011 // Ohio-based Hylant Group, one of the largest privately owned insurance brokerage firms in the nation, has promoted two insurance industry professionals in its Environmental Practice Group. Don Bryant, vice president, has...
Hartford Steam Boiler Introduces Green Equipment Breakdown Coverage
Apr 22 2011 // The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co. is taking its green coverage to the next step with HSB Green Equipment Breakdown coverage. HSB Green Equipment Breakdown coverage helps make insureds whole in the...
One Year After BP Oil Spill, Optimism on Gulf Coast
Apr 21 2011 // A year after the worst U.S. offshore oil spill swamped the Gulf coast with petroleum and misery, officials Wednesday declared the hard-hit region reborn. It is still too early to know the long-term damage to the...
Ironshore Environmental Enhances Pollution Program for Education Sector
Apr 20 2011 // Ironshore Inc.’s Environmental Insurance unit has enhanced its asset-class specific Site Pollution Incident Legal Liability Select (SPILLS) suite of products to address risk exposures within the education sector,...
Termini Joins Markel in Virginia
Apr 20 2011 // Specialty insurer Markel appointed John Termini as managing director for its environmental product line. Termini, based in Richmond, Virginia, has 20 years of insurance experience and most recently served as vice president...
Tennessee Valley Authority Settles Environmental Claims
Apr 15 2011 // The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) will invest as much as $5 billion to reduce coal-plant emissions to settle allegations of Clean Air Act violations at 11 coal-fired power plants in three states, the U.S. Environmental...
Gulf Coast Officials Enjoy Spending Spree at BP’s Expense
Apr 12 2011 // In the year since the Gulf oil spill, officials along the coast have gone on a spending spree with BP money, dropping tens of millions of dollars on gadgets, vehicles and gear — much of which had little to do with the...
Tesoro Denies Plant Blast in Washington Due to Poor Maintenance
Apr 5 2011 // The U.S. Chemical Safety Board said Tesoro Corp. had not adequately maintained a heat exchanger at its Anacortes, Washington, refinery, that exploded on April 2, 2010, causing the death of seven workers. Microscopic cracks...
XL Insurance Creates Electronic Data Destruction Coverage for E-Waste Recycling
Apr 5 2011 // XL Insurance, the global insurance operations of XL Group plc, has unveiled a new Electronic Data Destruction coverage enhancement developed exclusively for e-waste recyclers. “In the US alone, an estimated 400...
Company Faces $300M Penalty in Pennsylvania Pollution Suit
Mar 23 2011 // GenOn Northeast Management Co. is liable for fouling the Conemaugh River with metal discharges from a power plant in Indiana County since 2005, a federal magistrate has ruled, opening the door to a maximum civil penalty of...
Hot Programs and Products
Mar 21 2011 // Here’s what some insurers and brokers have been up to recently, inventing and tweaking key programs and coverages. Liability: Professional, E&O, D&O, EPLI CNA launched Epack Extra, an enhanced version of...
People
Mar 21 2011 // Jennifer McPhillips was promoted to senior director of federal government affairs for the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”) and will serve as one of the association’s...
Judge Won’t Order Additional Damages Against Exxon for Valdez Spill
Mar 8 2011 // A federal judge has refused to order Exxon Mobil Corp. to pay an additional $92 million sought by the U.S. government and state of Alaska to address lingering damage from the 1989 oil spill in Prince William Sound. U.S....
Report Highlights 50% Jump in Asbestos, Environmental Losses
Mar 7 2011 // A soon to be issued report from A.M. Best details an increase in U.S. property/casualty insurers’ asbestos and environmental (A&E) incurred losses. The industry faced a 50 percent rise in 2009, after a 47...
BP Shows Reluctance to Fix Gulf Oil Spill Damage: Official
Mar 3 2011 // The vice chairman of a task force set up by President Barack Obama to restore the Gulf Coast criticized BP PLC this week for what he described as the oil company’s increasing reluctance to repair the damage inflicted...
