Sonat operated a natural gas company that included multiple compressor stations along a pipeline that spanned from

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Sonat operated a natural gas company that included multiple compressor stations along a pipeline that spanned from Texas to Georgia. Many of the compressor stations included mercury metering. Sonat also used the lubricating oil Pydraul in the compressor engines at the stations. In 1989, Sonat discovered that this lubricating oil contained the toxic chemical polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB). Sonat tried to find solutions to remove Pydraul from the compressor stations. It was further discovered that Sonat's mercury-metering stations were discharging mercury along the pipeline. In 1992, the EPA notified outside gas pipeline companies that Sonat's mercury meters were leaking. Sonat conducted multiple remedial activities at its various mercury stations to prevent migration of mercury into groundwater. The business then received umbrella and excess-liability insurance policies from LMI Insurers. LMI later argued that Sonat's cleanup costs were not "damages" that LMI was obligated to pay because Sonat's cleanup projects were an "internal business decision and not the result of any compulsory process by a court or a state or federal agency." However, in court, LMI was required to pay Sonat's environmental remediation costs because the Toxic Substances Control Act required Sonat to report contaminations to the EPA and Sonat's remedial cleanup costs constituted "damages." The insurers appealed. How do you think the appellate court ruled? Why? Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's v. Southern Natural Gas Co., 142 So.3d 436 (Ala. 2013).
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The Legal Environment of Business A Critical Thinking Approach

ISBN: 978-0134074030

8th edition

Authors: Nancy K. Kubasek, Bartley A. Brennan, M. Neil Browne

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