Alabama Plating Company v. United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company
Alabama Supreme Court
690 So. 2d 331 (1996)
Relevant factsFree
Alabama Plating (plaintiff) ran an electroplating business that discharged chemical byproducts through a treatment system approved by state environmental regulators, but the process still caused contamination requiring costly remediation. Its insurer (defendant) denied coverage under a pollution exclusion that allowed coverage only for "sudden and accidental" discharges, and the trial court granted the insurer summary judgment on the theory that the contamination wasn't a brief, abrupt event.
IssueFree
Whether a pollution exclusion in a comprehensive general liability policy bars coverage where the occurrence causing pollution was unexpected or unintended.
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