Insurance – Duty to defend – Pollution

In finding that an insurance company did not have a duty to defend a policyholder accused of polluting a Superfund site, a U.S. District Court erred by considering only the timing of the policyholder’s alleged polluting activities, as Rhode Island law requires consideration of the potential timing of the property damage itself.

Travelers Casualty and Surety Company v. Providence Washington Insurance Company, Inc. (Lawyers Weekly No. 01-172-12) (28 pages) (Howard, J.) (1st Circuit) Appealed from a decision by Smith, J., in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. Robert A. Kole, with whom John A. Nadas, Nellie E. Staley, Choate, Hall & Stewart, Jason C. Preciphs, R. Kelly Sheridan and Roberts, Carroll, Feldstein & Peirce were on brief, for the plaintiff-appellant; Todd D. White, with whom Katy A. Hynes, John T. Mulcahy and Adler Pollock & Sheehan were on brief, for the defendant-appellee (Docket No. 11-2193) (July 11, 2012).