Court: Underlying Actions Unrelated Events, Deductible Not Satisfied

HOUSTON -- The parties in a coverage dispute relating to underlying benzene claims have reached an agreement to settle their claims shortly after a district court determined that the pollution claims were not related for purposes of satisfying the plaintiff's $2 million defense deductible. Pennzoil-Quaker State Co. v. American International Specialty Lines Insurance Co., No. 08-2025 (S.D. Texas).

In the Sept. 4 opinion, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas said that since the underlying complaints allege different kinds of emissions, releases and contaminations, they cannot be considered a related pollution condition under the terms of the …