Louisiana Generating LLC v. Illinois Union Insurance

121 F. Supp. 3d 588, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102422, 2015 WL 4656634
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Louisiana
DecidedAugust 5, 2015
DocketCivil Action No. 10-516-JJB
StatusPublished

This text of 121 F. Supp. 3d 588 (Louisiana Generating LLC v. Illinois Union Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Louisiana Generating LLC v. Illinois Union Insurance, 121 F. Supp. 3d 588, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102422, 2015 WL 4656634 (M.D. La. 2015).

Opinion

RULING ON MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

JAMES J. BRADY, District Judge.

This case is before the Court on two cross-motions for. summary judgment. Defendant Illinois Union Insurance Company (Illinois Union) filed the first motion (Doc. 298), and plaintiff Louisiana Generating LLC (LA Gen) filed the second (Doc. 327). Both parties filed oppositions (Docs. 337, 341) and replied .to the other party’s opposition (Docs. 346, 347). LA Gen also filed a Motion in Limine (Doc. 324), and Illinois Union filed an opposition (Doc. 342) to that motion. Further, Illinois Union [590]*590recently filed a Motion for Judicial Notice (Doc. 349), and LA Gen filed an opposition (Doc. 355). Before filing its summary judgment motion, Illinois Union filed a Motion for Continuance to Complete Discovery with a Request for Expedited Consideration (Doc. 292) designed to delay disposition of any summary judgment motions until further discovery could be completed; LA Gen filed an opposition (Doc. 322). Later, Illinois filed a Motion to Stay Summary Judgment Proceedings Pending Resolution of Discovery Issues (Doc. 352), and LA Gen has yet to file an opposition; however the time for LA Gen to file has not yet run. Oral argument on these motions is unnecessary.

Background

The dispute centers on an insurance policy that Illinois Union issued to LA Gen and whether it covers certain costs arising out of a consent decree addressing violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and Louisiana environmental regulations at LA Gen’s BCII Power Plant (BCII). In a separate action, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) sued LA Gen over these violations, and that suit ended with the consent decree. While that action was pending, LA Gen sought defense from Illinois Union, who refused on the grounds that there was, unequivocally, no coverage. In a prior ruling — which the Fifth Circuit affirmed (Doc. 157) — this Court (Doc. Ill) found that Illinois Union had a duty to defend LA Gen in the enforcement action involving the EPA and LDEQ. The Court based its ruling on the possibility of coverage, which was sufficient to trigger the duty to defend, and specifically acknowledged that it did not reach the question of actual coverage and the duty to indemnify. (Doc. Ill at 1,8-9).

Actual coverage and the duty to indemnify are now before the Court. Significantly, the entire consent decree is not at issue; rather, only three particular expenses that LA Gen incurred are disputed by Illinois Union. The three disputed portions of the consent decree are: “the costs of installing Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction (SNCR) technology at BCII Unit 3; ... the surrender of emissions allowances; and ... ‘Mitigation Projects.’ ” (Doc. 298-1 at 6). Under the consent decree, LA Gen agreed to install SNCR technology at Units 1, 2, and 3 to address issues with Units 1 and 2,1 but because it acknowledges that the costs to do so on Units 1 and 2 are compliance costs, it only seeks coverage related to the Unit 3 costs. LA Gen must also, under the consent decree, permanently surrender its emissions allowances for NOx and S02; this is intended to create the practical effect of reducing emissions of both chemicals. The final disputed costs are those associated with a slew of “Mitigation Projects” that LA Gen ' must undertake, including $500,000 to the National Park Service to support projects designed to address air pollution.

Whether the policy covers the contested costs essentially comes down to methods of contract interpretation. LA Gen’s policy includes, in its coverage clause, the following language:

“Claims”, “remediation costs”, and associated “legal defense expenses”, in excess of the “self-insured retention”, as a result of a “pollution condition” on, at, under, or beyond the boundaries and that migrated from the “covered location^)”, provided the “claim” is first made, or the “insured” first discovers such “pollution condition” during the “policy period”. Any such “claim” or [591]*591discovery must be reported to the Insurer, in writing, during the “policy period” or any applicable “extended reporting period.”

(Doc. Ill at 4). The policy also includes a list of definitions, and the primary issue here is “remediation costs,” which the policy defines:

“Remediation costs” means reasonable expenses incurred to investigate, quantify, monitor, mitigate, abate, remove, dispose, treat, neutralize, or immobilize “pollution conditions” to the extent required by “environmental law.” .

Id. at 5. In their motions, the parties argue multiple points, but the approach to defining “abate” and “mitigate” from the “remediation costs” section is most critical, though there are other important issues involved as well.

In addition to claiming that the policy does not cover these three costs, Illinois Union challenges that several aspects of the costs are unreasonable. LA Gen, according to Illinois Union, failed to fulfill some of its obligations in the most efficient manner possible; Illinois Union also argues that the surrender of emissions should be valued with Entergy’s co-ownership of unit 3 in mind. Further, there are several pending discovery motions regarding additional materials that Illinois Union requested. These motions primarily deal with documents related to the negotiations between LA Gen and the EPA leading up to the consent decree. LA Gen has vigorously opposed all of the motions.2 Due to the number of outstanding discovery motions, Illinois Union filed its motion to stay in addition to its motion to extend discovery because it feels that the outcome of its discovery motions could affect the summary judgment analysis.

Standard of Review

A motion for summary judgment should be granted when the pleadings, depositions, answers to the interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, show that there is no genuine dispute of material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). A factual dispute is genuine when “the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The admissibility of evidence for summary judgment purposes conforms to the rules of admissibility at trial. Pegram v. Honeywell, Inc., 361 F.3d 272, 285 (5th Cir.2004) (citations omitted). Material facts are those “that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. Whether a fact is material will depend on the substantive law. Id. .When addressing a summary judgment motion, the court must make reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party. Evans v. City of Bishop, 238 F.3d 586, 589 (5th Cir.2000). If the movant meets his initial burden of showing the absence of a genuine dispute of material fact, the burden shifts to the nonmovant to identify or produce evidence that establishes a genuine dispute of material fact. Allen v. Rapides Parish Sch. Bd., 204 F.3d 619, 621 (5th Cir.2000).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
121 F. Supp. 3d 588, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102422, 2015 WL 4656634, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/louisiana-generating-llc-v-illinois-union-insurance-lamd-2015.