Insurance – CGL policies – pollution exlcusions

Listen to this article

Wisconsin Supreme Court

Civil

Insurance – CGL policies – pollution exlcusions

A reasonable insured would understand that decomposing septage is a “contaminant” and therefore, a “pollutant” as defined in a pollution exclusion clause when it has decomposed and seeps into a water supply.

“Furthermore, that septage fits the ordinary meaning of waste, which the policies expressly list as a pollutant, supports our conclusion that septage is a pollutant when it seeps into a water supply. Septage is primarily composed of human urine and feces. The ordinary meanings of feces and urine are, respectively, ‘“[w]aste matter eliminated from the bowels; excrement,”’ and ‘“[t]he waste product secreted by the kidneys.”’ Hirschhorn, 338 Wis. 2d 761, ¶34 (quoting The American Heritage Dictionary 1965). The ordinary meaning of waste includes, among other things, ‘“[t]he undigested residue of food eliminated from the body; excrement.”’ Id. (quoting American Heritage Dictionary 2016). In Hirschhorn, these definitions of waste, urine, and feces supported our conclusion that bat guano——which consists of bat urine and feces——was a pollutant when it infiltrated a home. Id., ¶¶34-36. Likewise, in the present case, these definitions support our conclusion that decomposing septage is a pollutant when it seeps into a water supply.”

Affirmed.

2012AP2521 Preisler v. General Casualty Ins. Co.

Roggensack, J.

Full Text