Land O'Lakes, Inc. v. Employers Ins. Co., et al., No. 12-1752 (8th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseThe EPA filed suit under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq. against Land O'Lakes, alleging that Land O'Lakes was responsible for cleanup costs at a contaminated refinery site. Land O'Lakes subsequently filed suit against its insurers, Wausau and Travelers, seeking payment of defense costs and indemnification under commercial general liability (CGL) policies that the insurers issued in connection with the CERCLA suit. The court concluded that Land O'Lakes's 2009 duty-to-defend claims were barred by the Minnesota statute of limitations where the 2001 Potentially Responsible Party (PRP) letter was a "suit" for arguably-covered damages as contemplated under the pertinent CGL policies. The court also concluded that Land O'Lakes's costs to remediate the refinery site fell within the owned-property exclusion. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court.
Court Description: Civil case - Insurance. District court did not err in concluding that a letter the EPA sent the insured in 2011 informing it that the EPA considered it a Potentially Responsible Party in connection with an environmental cleanup constituted a suit for purposes of determining whether the insured's breach of contract action against the insurer was barred by the applicable statute of limitations; the insured's costs to remediate the site fall within the "owned-property" exclusion in the policy at issue.
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