Case Update: August 2002
ENVIRONMENTAL LITIGATION/”CONTINUOUS TRIGGER”
Ric Gallin has had a busy Spring and Summer. In addition to managing M&W’s New York office, Ric has followed last year’s success in Perreira v. Rediger by arguing several prominent cases before the New Jersey Supreme Court and Appellate Division.
In Quincy Mutual v. Borough of Bellmawr the New Jersey Supreme Court refined the “continous trigger” theory first enunciated in the landmark Owens-Illinois decision. Like many municipalities in South Jersey, Bellmawr utilized the now-infamous Helen Kramer landfill. The borough began dumping in May 1978 and continued to dump through January 1981. On June 15, 1978, they switched liability carriers from Cigna to Quincy Mutual. In this Declaratory Judgment action, both the
trial court and the Appellate Division held that the dumping that occurred while Cigna was on the risk did not trigger coverage since the waste had not yet contaminated off-site groundwater. [MORE]