VERTEX was retained by an international property and casualty insurance carrier to assist them in their review of a claim submitted by an insured pursuant to an environmental pollution insurance policy, pertaining to a shopping center in southeastern Texas.
A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment and limited Phase II Investigation performed at the property in 2023 identified the presence of tetrachloroethene (PCE) in groundwater at concentrations above applicable Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) regulatory standards. VERTEX’s review of the available data and historical site information concluded that the PCE contamination detected in groundwater was related to a documented historical release of PCE associated with a former dry cleaning business that had operated on the site in the 1990s and was unrelated to the dry cleaning business currently operating in a different portion of the shopping plaza.
Based on VERTEX’s analysis and conclusions, coverage was not provided by the carrier as the policy contained an exclusion for remediation of environmental impacts related to the historical site dry cleaner. Remediation of the PCE impacts to groundwater could potentially cost several hundred thousand dollars.
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