Olin Corp. v. Insurance Co. of North America

218 F. Supp. 3d 212, 46 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20184, 2016 WL 6882858, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161542
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedNovember 21, 2016
Docket84 Civ. 1968
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 218 F. Supp. 3d 212 (Olin Corp. v. Insurance Co. of North America) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Olin Corp. v. Insurance Co. of North America, 218 F. Supp. 3d 212, 46 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20184, 2016 WL 6882858, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161542 (S.D.N.Y. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

JED S. RAKOFF, United States District Judge.

The present dispute marks the latest phase in the 32-year long litigation between plaintiff Olin Corporation (“Olin”) and its insurer, defendant Insurance Company of North America (“INA”), a litigation that has occupied the substantial attention of four successive federal district judges, two of whom are now deceased (though presumably from other causes). In the instant iteration, Olin seeks to recover from INA the expenses incurred by Olin in defending litigation brought by third-party plaintiffs concerning two sites: the “Ham-den Site” and the “Chula Vista Site.” By bottom-line Order dated October 26, 2016, this Court granted Olin summary judgment on its claims relating to the Hamden Site, in the sum of $1,762,595.90, plus prejudgment interest. With regard to the claims relating to the Chula Vista Site, the Court granted Olin partial summary judgment, holding that Olin timely notified INA of two third-party suits (the “Federal Suit” and the “State Suit”), but otherwise denying summary judgment to either side.

Thereafter, however, INA’s counsel became aware of certain documents, timely produced by Olin, that were material to its motion for summary judgment regarding the Chula Vista Site. The Court thereupon permitted the parties to submit supplemental briefing on the impact,- if any, of those documents on the Court’s prior rulings.- In its supplemental briefing, INA withdrew its prior argument that Olin’s notice of the Federal Suit was -untimély and instead claimed that Olin’s notice was deficient because it failed to transmit “critical” information to INA necessary to- trigger the duty to defend. Upon review of the parties’ supplemental briefing, the Court modifies its prior bottom-line ruling but only to the extent of withdrawing its prior determination that Olin' timely notified INA of the Federal Suit. This Opinion and Order thereby amends the Court’s prior “bottom-line” ruling and sets forth the reasons for all the Court’s rulings now embodied in that amended order.

The Court begins with Olin’s claims, for defense costs in connection with the Ham-den Site. Olin purchased primary insurance policies from INA covering the periods 1950-1970 (the “Hamden Policies”). Pl.’s Rule 56.1 Statement in Support of Its Motion for Summary Judgement on Its Claim for Defense Costs Associated with the Hamden Site (“Hamden R. 56.1 Statement”) ¶¶ 1-2, ECF No. 1898.1 In each, INA agreed to “defend” Olin in “any suit ... seeking damages on account” of property damage or personal injury covered by the Hamden Policies, “even if any of. the allegations of the suit are groundless, false or fraudulent.” Hamden R. 56.1 Statement ¶ 5.

On May 2, 2003, several landowners (the “Hamden Plaintiffs”), individually and on behalf of a putative class, filed Collins v. Olin Corp. and Town of Hamden, alleging personal injuries and property damage caused by Olin’s alleged disposal of industrial waste at private and public dumps in Hamden, Connecticut (the “Collins litiga[216]*216tion”). Hamden R. 56.1 Statement ¶¶ 6,12, 16-17, 22-24. The plaintiffs alleged that “Olin negligently disposed of and/or released hazardous substances in the New-hall Section of Hamden over the course of many years, [and] negligently disposed of hazardous substances that have contaminated the soil and ground water flowing under the Newhall Section.” Hamden R. 56.1 Statement ¶24. The pleadings additionally incorporated an April 2003 Consent Order, which stated that “[d]umping at the Hamden Middle School Property by respondent Olin continued until at least 1957”—seven years into the period covered by the Hamden Policies. Olin provided INA with notice of the Collins litigation on May 21, 2003, and demanded that INA provide a defense. Hamden R. 56.1 Statement ¶¶ 42-43. INA did not provide coverage.

In December 2006, the Hamden Plaintiffs filed a Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”). The SAC asserted a putative class of all persons who owned real property in the Newhall Section of Hamden at specified addresses. Hamden R. 56.1 Statement ¶ 10. The SAC further identified three subclasses: 1) the Contaminated Properties subclass; 2) the Stigma subclass; and 3) the Response Cost subclass. Hamden R. 56.1 Statement ¶ 11. The Contaminated Properties subclass consisted of members who owned property “onto which Olin disposed of contaminated fill after it purchased Winchester in 1931”. Id. The Stigma subclass consisted of members who owned property “onto which Olin did not dispose of industrial waste containing contamination after it purchased Winchester in 1931, but who ha[d] suffered damages as a result of their close proximity to the Contaminated Properties Subclass.” Id. The Response Cost subclass represented members who owned property onto which dumping had not occurred, but “who ha[d] or w[ould] incur response costs in order to redress residual contamination.” Id.

In 2008, the court certified the proposed class and subclasses. The next year, on October 28, 2009, without admitting liability, Olin entered into a class settlement, thereby ending the litigation. Hamden R. 56.1 Statement ¶ 31. At no point did the court make a determination as to if and when damage occurred to the Hamden Plaintiffs’ properties.

Olin now seeks summary judgment on its claim against INA for Olin’s defense costs incurred in the Collins litigation, in the amount of $1,762,595.90, plus prejudgment interest. INA opposes, arguing that the alleged property damage occurred outside the period covered by the Hamden Policies. INA further argues that even if it had a duty to defend, the Court should allocate defense costs between Olin and INA to account for damage during periods when Olin lacked insurance.

In determining whether an insurer has a duty to defend, “only those facts alleged in the underlying complaint are relevant to determining the scope of this duty.” Cont’l Cas. Co. v. JBS Const. Mgmt., Inc., No. 09 CIV. 6697 (JSR), 2010 WL 2834898, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. July 1, 2010). The allegations in a complaint must be “liberally construed” in favor of coverage, Ruder & Finn Inc. v. Seaboard Sur. Co., 52 N.Y.2d 663, 439 N.Y.S.2d 858, 422 N.E.2d 518, 521 (1981), and “the duty to defend arises if the claims against the insured arguably arise from a covered event, even if the claims may be meritless or not covered.” Rhodes v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 67 A.D.3d 881, 892 N.Y.S.2d 403, 405 (2009). Moreover, “[a]ny ambiguity as to the insurer’s duty to defend is resolved in favor of the insured.” IBM v. Liberty Mut. Fire Ins. Co., 363 F.3d 137, 144 (2d Cir. 2004).

The parties agree that Olin dumped waste on some of the Hamden Plaintiffs’ properties before 1950 but [217]*217ceased dumping on those properties prior to the policy periods (1950-1970). They also agree that Olin dumped waste near the Hamden Plaintiffs’ properties up until 1957. They disagree about whether the SAC alleges a reasonable possibility of property damage during the policy periods through migration of waste into the groundwater.

The Second Circuit has held that property damage can continue after active disposal ceases if contamination seeps into the soil and groundwater. Olin Corp. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, 468 F.3d 120, 131 (2d Cir.

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218 F. Supp. 3d 212, 46 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20184, 2016 WL 6882858, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161542, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/olin-corp-v-insurance-co-of-north-america-nysd-2016.