Accordingly, since Clendenin Bros., the policy language has been broadened—seemingly in response to Clendenin Bros. and similar cases—to include not only environmental pollution, but also, substances that are “harmful or toxic to persons [or] property.” The significance of this distinction was recognized in Clipper Mill Fed., LLC v. Cincinnati Ins. Co, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 112172 (D.Md. 2010), where a landlord/insured alleged that damages caused by “[t]oxic and dangerous airborne pollutants” attributable to a malfunctioning HVAC unit gave rise to a claim against the insured by a tenant. Id. at 3. In that case, although the pollution at issue was not “environmental,” the District of Maryland observed that:
The policy in the present case contains an important distinction from that involved in Clendenin Bros. The CGL Policy tracks the definition of “Pollutant” contained in the policy at issue in Clendenin Bros., but adds, “‘Pollutants’ include but are not limited to substances which are generally recognized in industry or government to be harmful or toxic to persons, property or the environment. . . .” Compare Clendenin Bros., 889 A.2d at 390, with CGL Policy, Form GA 1011204 § V(18) (emphasis added). The addition of this sentence expanded the definition of Pollutant beyond environmental pollutants. The CGL Policy’s use of the phrase “harmful or toxic to persons, property or the environment” shows that the definition includes irritants and contaminants that harm persons but
The Association alleged in its lawsuit that certain elements of the property were not constructed in a good and workmanlike manner including 1) failure to properly install and flash windows and other exterior penetrations; 2) properly caulk the exterior penetrations; 3) failure to properly install the weather resistive barrier; 4) failure to properly to install the stucco exterior; 5) failure to properly install the EIFS exterior and 6) failure to install brick exterior.
This claim arises out of a lawsuit filed by Plaintiff, Debra Nathan-Nenn, on her own behalf, and on behalf of her minor son, Grey Hoffman. The Amended Complaint alleges in general that Ms. Nathan-Nenn executed a written lease to rent a house from the insureds starting on June 1, 2013. The plaintiffs further allege that starting on the day the plaintiffs took possession of the house, the drain in the kitchen sink was not working and the insureds failed to correct this condition. The complaint continues to allege additional deficiencies in the rental property such as mold growth in one of the bedrooms and in various locations of the house due to excess moisture and failure to patch exterior openings, insufficient heating, holes in the exterior walls, an unfinished deck, insufficient weather sealants, vermin in the crawlspace, frozen pipes and lack of running water. The plaintiffs further allege that the insureds have failed to address and resolve the above issues. The most serious claim is that the mold present throughout the house caused the plaintiff and her minor son to become ill.
The Supreme Court was requested to rule on the cotton dust standard using the OSHA’s mandate under section 3(8) whose objective was to protect workers from the exposure of hazardous materials. In the Department of Industrial Union, the Benzene decision decided by a divided court invalidated the OSHA 's benzene standard. According to the judges, OSHA had to base its findings on substantial evidence rather than mere assumptions. These records should show that occupational exposure to the regulated substance presents significant health risk (Schulte, et al., 2014).
In the book, Sacrifice Zones, Steve Lerner takes readers through twelve separate stories of communities in the United States that have been unwillingly exposed to high levels of environmental toxicity. In each of these cases, citizens of those communities reacted to and pushed back against being exposed to toxic chemicals, sometimes successfully and sometimes less so. In every case, the people most heavily exposed to these health hazards were minorities and low-income citizens, which, Lerner argues, is why government officials and corporate decision-makers chose knowingly to risk exposing them. This paper will outline Lerner’s book and argue that despite a long history of protests, lawsuits, media attention and nationwide outrage, willing exposure of low-income and minority Americans to toxic chemicals in the pursuit of government and corporate interests is still a major problem today.
Plaintiffs assert that Defendants’ chemical land farming operation near their homes that are polluting the air violates Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 42 and Section 112 of the Clean Air Act. Plaintiffs contend that these human rights violations are demonstrated by the fact that, (1) the Defendants failed to operate their pollution control equipment and (2) the Defendants did not acquire a permit from the United States Environmental Protection Agency or the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to store hazardous waste in Alsen, Louisiana.
The Toxic Substance Control Act was enacted to protect both humans and the environment from the effects of toxic or harmful chemicals. The Environmental Protection Agency was placed in charge of this act, and has since been enforcing and amending it. The EPA is permitted to define testing requirements for all chemicals, and can also restrict the manufacture and sale of any particularly hazardous chemicals. In addition, all imports and exports of these chemicals must be recorded at every step along the journey to ensure that regulations
Carol Browner was the administrator for the EPA from 1993 to 2001 which gives her credibility in establishing an argument about the topic of public health. In “Clean Air Regulations Public Health” article, Browning opened by mentioning the 1997 updated air quality standards for ozone and particulate matter. Throughout the remainder of the article, it is clear that she means to inform the reader about the issues of public health and discuss how the government has attempted to improve while at the same time showing what should take priority.
The environment and the health of the surrounding population go hand in hand. The Environmental Protection Agency takes on this ever so important mission of protecting them both. The mission statement of the EPA states, “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Small Business Programs is to support the protection of human health and the environment by advocating and advancing the business, regulatory, and environmental compliance concerns of small and socio-economically disadvantaged businesses, and minority academic institutions (US Enviromental Protection Agency, 2010).” The impact of its mission can be defined clearly as it examines the impact of contamination in the air, the water, and the land on human health.
Carson’s next argument is that the volume of new chemicals coming on the market each year, the universal use of these chemicals on farms, gardens, forests, and homes, and the lack of information on the short or long-term effect of these
A Civil Action is based upon a true story that Jonathan Harr, a former staff writer of New England Monthly describes a case that in the legal system that is fascinating and compelling. The story of a impracticable quest by an idealistic young personal-Injury lawyer, whose aim was to prove that two conglomerates, Beatrice Foods and W.R Grace, allegedly polluted the water in Woburn ,Mass. a Boston suburb, with carcinogens. Jan had hoped that a victory would send a message to the boardrooms to America and felt that the culture of Leukemia in Woburn guaranteed his success. He never realized that he would be comforted with problems in the justice system.
The company also have environmental claims; for personal injury and property damage alleging the release of or exposure to hazardous materials.
In 1996 both houses of congress passed the quality protection act (FQPA) unanimously. This amendment particularly reformed regulations of pesticides. Eliminating the Delaney Clause from being applied to pesticide residues. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website indicates that this new law sets a single health-based standard instead of the previous multiple standards. The general safety standard is considered to be, “a reasonable certainty of no harm.” When the EPA sets the standards it will have to take in consideration all sources, which include water, and other pesticides with a common “mechanism of toxicity” (http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/regulating/laws/fqpa/backgrnd.htm ). The website also mentions a special provision considering babies and children, where there is to be a clear determination that proves tolerance levels are in fact safe for children.
This can be shown in areas that are considered fenceline communities. These are communities that are located directly in the midst of toxic pollution. Residents who live in these communities often accept their conditions of their surroundings and wait for disasters to happen. These disasters include chemical spills or toxic contamination that can demolish their communities at some point. These individuals are also put at a higher risk for possible terrorist attacks. Moreover, residents who live nearby also suffer by having their wealth stolen through lowered property values. To show example, in 1992 the National Law Journal found discrepancies in the way the Environmental Protection Agency enforced its Superfund laws (Bullard & Wright 2012). In the same year Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality signed off on permits allowing Genesee Power Station to build an eighty million dollar incinerator for construction use. This incinerator was built beside a predominately black low income neighborhood (Burke 2017). The residents were forced to be exposed to particulate matter, carbon monoxide, lead, and acidic gases. Being within walking distance from a chemical site would eventually begin to affect their quality of life and health (National Research Council). If disasters are to take place they are often blamed on natural occurrences. This concept tends to be pushed by corporations who do not want to own up to
During a job one day in Ohio, two carpet layers by the names of Gordon Falker and Gregory Roach experience instense burns after an explosive incident. A 3.5 gallon jug of carpet adhesive ignited when the water heater it was sitting next to turned on. Convinced that the warning label did not adequately warn them of the adhesive’s flammability, the two men sued the manufacturers. They got about $9 million out of the deal.
The second section of the book focused on the chemical industry, specifically vinyl chloride, where it was explained there was little known about the effects of chemicals. Because of this, there was the question of whether “a product was to be considered safe until proven dangerous” or vice versa where a product was considered dangerous until proven safe. This time the public showed greater opposition to the use of vinyl chloride, as environmentalists and labor unions united to reveal the harmful effects of it. Similar to the lead industry, the chemical industry also fought back reasoning to the government that only high levels of chemical exposure was harmful to people and the government