Dallas National Insurance Co. v. Sabic Americas, Inc.

355 S.W.3d 111, 2011 Tex. App. LEXIS 1741, 2011 WL 862049
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 10, 2011
Docket01-08-00758-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 355 S.W.3d 111 (Dallas National Insurance Co. v. Sabic Americas, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dallas National Insurance Co. v. Sabic Americas, Inc., 355 S.W.3d 111, 2011 Tex. App. LEXIS 1741, 2011 WL 862049 (Tex. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION

JIM SHARP, Justice.

Seeking a determination of its rights and obligations under four commercial general-liability insurance policies it had issued to appellee Sabic Americas, Inc., appellant Dallas National Insurance Company filed a declaratory-judgment action. Sabic filed a counterclaim seeking, inter alia, a declaratory judgment that the four policies obligated Dallas National to defend and indemnify it in eight underlying lawsuits. With both parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment before it, the trial court granted Sabic’s motion and ordered Dallas National to reimburse Sabic for any defense costs it incurred as a result of the underlying lawsuits. On appeal, Dallas National contends that the trial court erred in declaring that it was obligated to defend and reimburse Sabic. We affirm.

Background

Eight lawsuits were filed against Sa-bic — four in the Southern District of New York and four in the Middle District of Florida (underlying lawsuits). 1 The plaintiffs in each of the underlying lawsuits allege that they are municipal corporations supplying water to thousands of customers residing within their respective boundaries 2 and allege that their water supply systems and groundwater were contaminated by the methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) that over fifty defendants, including Sabic, added to the petroleum products *115 that they manufactured, refined, formulated, distributed, supplied, sold and/or marketed. The pleadings in the underlying lawsuits raise numerous causes of action, including negligence, product liability, deceptive business practices, and trespass. The plaintiffs in each of those lawsuits are seeking (1) removal of contaminants from the groundwater and soil, (2) testing and monitoring of their groundwater, and (3) recovery of damages for testing costs, remediation, or treatment costs, including damages to water wells, pumping stations, filters, and other property.

Although the pleadings in each of the underlying lawsuits raise specific allegations with regard to some of the individual defendants, none of them raises any specific allegations with respect to Sabic. Rather, the plaintiffs in the underlying lawsuits allege that the “defendants,” including Sabic, began adding MTBE to the petroleum products that they manufactured, refined, formulated, distributed, supplied, sold and/or marketed beginning in the 1970s. The plaintiffs further allege that the defendants knew or should have known the unique dangers that the addition of MTBE to gasoline and other petroleum products posed to groundwater supplies as early as the 1970s. According to the plaintiffs, MTBE contamination was an inevitable result of the defendants’ intentional and negligent conduct. The plaintiffs further allege that the defendants misled Congress and the public of the dangers posed by MTBE and increased the amount of MTBE in their products, despite knowledge of the hazards it posed. Plaintiffs also allege that MTBE begins to contaminate the groundwater soon after it is released, and that the contamination is continuous, persistent, and ongoing. Although the plaintiffs allege that the MTBE contamination began well before 2003, they also allege that new spills and leaks of the petroleum products containing MTBE occurred annually at all times relevant to the litigation.

Sabic forwarded copies of the complaints in all eight of the underlying lawsuits to Dallas National with the expectation that it would receive a legal defense and indemnification pursuant to four commercial general-liability insurance policies covering July 2003 to July 2007. Those policies provide in pertinent part:

SECTION I — COVERAGES
COVERAGE A BODILY INJURY AND PROPERTY DAMAGE LIABILITY
1. Insuring Agreement
a. We will pay those sums that the insured becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of “bodily injury” or “property damage” to which this insurance applies. We will have the right and duty to defend the insured against any “suit” seeking those damages. However, we will have no duty to defend the insured against any “suit” seeking damages for “bodily injury” or “property damage” to which this insurance does not apply.
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b. This insurance applies to “bodily injury” or “property damage” only if:
(1) The “bodily injury” or “property damage” is caused by an “occurrence” that takes place in the “coverage territory”;
(2) The “bodily injury” or “property damage” occurs during the policy period ....

The policies also include the following relevant definitions:

13. “Occurrence” means an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same general harmful conditions.
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*116 15. “Pollutants” means any solid, liquid, gaseous or thermal irritant or contaminant, including smoke, vapor, soot, fumes, acids, alkalis, chemicals and waste. Waste includes materials to be recycled, reconditioned or reclaimed.
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17. “Property Damage” means:
a. Physical injury to tangible property, including all resulting loss of use of that property. All such loss of use shall be deemed to occur at the time of the physical injury that caused it; or
b. Loss of use of tangible property that is not physically injured. All such loss of use shall be deemed to occur at the time of the “occurrence” that caused it.

The policies, which contain pollution exclusions, also state that they do not apply to bodily injury or property loss “expected or intended from the standpoint of the insured.”

Dallas National denied coverage and filed a declaratory-judgment action against Sabic, seeking a determination of Dallas National’s rights and obligations under the four policies. 3 Sabic filed its first amended answer and first amended counterclaim, seeking a declaratory judgment against Dallas National to defend and indemnify it as required under the policies. Sabic and Dallas National subsequently filed cross-motions for traditional summary judgment. 4 After hearings on both motions, the trial court signed an order denying Dallas National’s motion and granting Sa-bic’s motion on both its duty-to-defend and duty-to-indemnify issues. The trial court subsequently set aside the order and signed a second order granting Sabic’s motion with respect to the duty-to-defend issue only, denying Dallas National’s motion on both its duty-to-defend and duty-to-indemnify issues, and declaring that Dallas National was obligated to defend Sabic in the underlying lawsuits and reimburse Sa-bic for any defense costs it incurred as a result. The court also severed Sabic’s breach-of-contract and attorne/s-fee claims. This appeal followed.

Discussion

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Bluebook (online)
355 S.W.3d 111, 2011 Tex. App. LEXIS 1741, 2011 WL 862049, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dallas-national-insurance-co-v-sabic-americas-inc-texapp-2011.