Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage For Claims Based On Release Of Pollutants

(April 25, 2024, 11:16 AM EDT) -- CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify its insured against underlying counterclaims in an environmental contamination coverage dispute because the policies’ pollution exclusion clearly bars coverage for the counterclaims, which are based on the release of threatened release of pollutants as defined in the policies at issue, a West Virginia federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment....