Total Pollution Exclusion Makes Clean Victory in Fifth Circuit

In the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Liberty Mutual has successfully argued the application of a total pollution exclusion to a claim by Central Crude, Inc. for costs related to environmental remediation and litigation defense. The case is called Central Crude, Inc. v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co., 51 F.4th 648 (5th Cir. 2022). 

Central Crude found an oil leak on its Paradis, Louisiana property in January 2007; the leak also extended to a neighboring piece of property owned by Chevron. Though Central Crude paid a contractor more than $1 million to fix the problem, the spill was not entirely remediated.