Author: Kara Bunbury

  • ERMI on Contractors

    Contractors continue to be the number one class of business Environmental Risk Managers, Inc. (ERMI) writes for our Partner Agencies. The vast majority of this is being driven by contracts requiring contractors to evidence Contractor’s Pollution Liability (CPL) insurance in order to perform their construction services.

    “Back in the day” it was not uncommon for contractors to negotiate the CPL insurance requirement out of the contracts.  Today, so many companies have experienced environmental liabilities created by the contractors they have hired that it’s common practice to require CPL coverage and not negotiate it out of the contract.  Home Depot and Walmart have spearheaded the charge since they each paid multi-million dollar fines to the EPA for liabilities created by their vendor contractors.

    Photo Credit: mytotalretail.com

    ERMI has also developed environmental Risk Assessments (eRA) for a variety of construction classes.  The eRA’s are designed to get you and your client/s on the same page about the environmental exposures impacting their operations.  We send our eRA’s in a Word format so you can cut and paste them into a marketing presentation that compliments your agencies marketing program.  Our Partner Agencies find utilizing the eRA’s is an excellent way to leverage their insurance sales because an educated insured understands the value investing in an environmental insurance product will add to their business model.

    The eRA’s come in three parts:

    1. Review of environmental exposure impacting your insured.
    2. Environmental loss examples
    3. Environmental insurance coverage’s that are appropriate for the insured to consider.

    The ultimate goal is to educate your insured so they can make the best decisions for their business. If your insured sees value and elects to further pursue environmental insurance coverage, we’re here to make your job easier by utilizing our insurance network to market your client’s submission and supply you with the best coverage options.

    Please let ERMI know how we can assist you to drive your sales of CPL coverage.

  • Leverage your M&A’s While Better Protecting your Assets with MAPP

    Merger, Acquisition & Pollution Protection (MAPP) insurance blends Representation & Warranties coverage with Pollution Insurance offering a financial assurance backstop for M&A’s. The benefits gained by making MAPP part of your M&A risk transfer strategy is why it has become part of “Best Practices”.

    The amazing MAPP Math Quiz below gives you the correct answer every time to minimize risk, maximize value and optimize resources with your M&A’s.

    MAPP Math Quiz:

    Pick a number from 1-9.
    Multiply by 3.
    Add 3.
    Multiply by 3 again.
    Now add the two digits together to find your answer.

    Now look up your number for the correct answer in the list below…

    1. Assume your employees, attorneys and accountants did their job flawlessly.

    2. No need to have any financial assurances because closing contracts contain Indemnification

    clauses, i.e. environmental indemnification, taxes, litigation.

    3. If something goes wrong with the M&A your strategy is to litigate with your own monies.

    4. Environmental site assessments offer all the protection needed

    5. Assume there are no R&W or environmental exposures with an M&A

    6. Self-insure your R&W and environmental exposures for a M&A

    7. Put your head in the sand

    8. Let a competitor counsel on the benefits of investing in MAPP and take your M&A business

    9. Team with the MAPP pioneer, Environmental Risk Managers to coach your clients on the value investing in MAPP will bring to their M&A’s

    10. Convince yourself and your client’s they will never have an M&A defaul

    11. Do nothing and when an M&A experiences a loss sue the attorneys, accountants, insuranceagents… Errors & Omission insurance

    12. Assume an M&A would rather spend 100 cents on the dollar out of their own pocket paying for R&W / environmental losses, legal fees… versus transferring their risk to an insurance carrier for fractions of a cent on the dollar.

    ERMI, your M&A strategic partner and trusted advisor for MAPP

    Brooks Bunbury @ brooks@ermi.us 231-218-1044

    Chris Bunbury @ chris@ermi.us 231-218-1041

  • Natural Disaster Seasons Are a Great Time to Talk Pollution Insurance

    Natural Disaster Seasons Are a Great Time to Talk Pollution Insurance

    2016 NATURAL CATASTROPHES:  Insured losses due to natural disasters in the United States in 2016 totaled $23.8 billion, according to Munich Re, more than the $16.1 billion total for 2015. Severe thunderstorms losses, at $14 billion, accounted for about 60 percent of the 2016 insured losses. Floods and flash floods accounted for $4.3 billion in insured losses in 2016, and tropical cyclones accounted for $3.5 billion in insured losses. Winter storms and cold waves caused $1 billion in insured losses in 2016. Wildfires, heat waves and drought produced $1 billion in insured losses in 2016. (source:  Insurance Information Institute)

    As ERMI has coached in the past, Natural Disaster Seasons (NDS, i.e. Flooding, Tornados, Forest Fires, Hurricanes…) is a great time to talk pollution.  Did you know most pollution policies do not exclude Acts of God.

    During NDS, national and local media are lighting up the airways / internet highway with all the pollution problems caused by a natural disasters.  You hear about storage tanks releasing their contents as debris crashes into them during flood season.  Pollutants spread out over miles from tornados or hurricanes.  Forest Fires engulfing communities and causing explosions that release pollutants in the air and the list goes on.

    Photo Credit: www.variety.com

    Note:  Pollution losses tend to be a severity versus frequency issue.

    The Prospects you want to strategize with on the value pollution insurance adds to their business model during NDS are those that feel they do not have a pollution exposure.  For this example, let’s use real estate owners.  For sake of avoiding an argument, agree with the real estate owners they do not have a pollution exposure, but then ask, what if a natural disaster deposits pollutants on your real estate?  As we move into spring the thoughts of melting snow carrying contaminants to nearby waterways to be deposited downstream during flood season to unsuspecting real estate owners in one simple example.

    Note:  Under federal law, the real estate owner is ultimately responsible for the environmental condition of their property.

    It may not be until years later when the real estate owner goes to sell their property and an environmental site assessment unveils an environmental problem from pollutants deposited during NDS.  Whose responsible?

    Since every business is impacted by environmental exposures, it’s now part of “Best Practices” for businesses to have a financial assurance strategy in place to address their exposure to environmental liabilities caused by Natural Disasters.

    NDS and pollution insurance go together like April showers that bring May flowers.

    As your team member for all things environmental, let ERMI know how we can assist you to drive your sales during NDS.

  • Underground Storage Tank Update

    environmental Strategist®, between the lines:  For years we have been talking about problems with aging tanks.  I believe, since tank insurance is a low premium / low commission insurance product it does not get the attention it deserves from tank owners or insurance professionals.

    The link below updates what is taking place in the tank market, such as state tank funds drying up.

    For a little background, under Federal law, regulated UST’s (Underground Storage Tanks) must evidence financial assurance should there be a release from the UST system.  Besides your obvious gas stations, financial assurance impacts businesses with UST’s such as backup generators for Municipalities, Waste Water Treatment Plants, Hospitals, Colleges, Restaurants, Grocery Stores, Assisted Living Facilities….  Other businesses with storage tanks can include Transportation companies, Contractors, Cement & Asphalt Manufacturers, Ski Areas, Hotel & Conference Facilities….

    The problem facing UST owners today is the age of their tanks.  Back in the 1990’s the Federal Government established financial assurance requirements but never consulted with the insurance industry to find out what the insurability of a 20 or 30 year old tank system would be.  Now we have aging UST’s in the United States and for the most part, tank owners have not budgeted to replace their systems and find themselves caught.

    Photo Credit: www.tucsonaz.gov

    If you have insureds with tanks over 20 years old you need to coach them up on replacing their tanks.  Once a tank reaches 25 years old there are just a couple of insurance carriers that will offer coverage and the premiums and deductibles go up drastically and retro dates are shortened.  For tanks over 30 years old it is a crap shoot if any insurance carrier will offer coverage.

    As your environmental team member, ERMI is ready to assist you and your insureds with their UST financial assurance needs.  Contact our tank specialist Angie Marsman @ angie@ermi.us or by phone 269-792-1070.

    http://riskandinsurance.com/tight-rules-low-funding-challenge-tank-operators/

  • “Atomic City”, Las Vegas Nevada

    environmental Strategist®, between the lines:  Every Community has their own environmental legacy.  Whether it’s just some old gas stations or dry cleaners with leaking underground tanks to the Exxon Valdez, Flint Water Crisis, Three Mile Island, Libby Montana…, every community is impacted by environmental contamination.

    As I travel around the country doing my live environmental seminars, I always like to review the communities environmental legacy where I will be speaking.  I am traveling this week to Las Vegas to do a CIC Advanced Ruble seminar, and below is a little environmental legacy information I thought you might enjoy on “Atomic City”.

    lv-sign
    Photo Credit: www.lasvegas360.com

    “Atomic City”, Las Vegas Nevada

    To create an effective arsenal the United States Government had to test bombs and they picked Las Vegas.  Las Vegas did not have gambling so testing nuclear bombs was determined to be a good way to create jobs and a major highway went within 7 miles of the test site.  The population of Las Vegas at the time was 50,000.

    • The land where nuclear testing took place is 65 miles NE from Las Vegas and is called “Atomic Ground Zero”.
    • Jan 27 1951 the first nuclear weapon was released from the air in Nevada, from 3,000 feet. The next day they set off another bomb and in just 10 days 5 Atomic bombs were set off. Between 1951 and 1992 there were nearly 1,000 Atomic detonations at the Nevada test site.  100 of them above ground 828 were underground.
    • In 1951 the Government built Mercury Nevada (Once known as Jackass Flats, Nv., now part of the Nevada National Security Site, also known as one of the most contaminated sites in the United States) to house all of the 10,000 employees and the reason they called it mercury was because of the former mercury mines and they saw cans of mercury along the road used by gold miners to test for gold.
    • Las Vegas had atomic bomb detonation celebrations for people to come and watch the sky light up at 4 AM. They called it “Atomic Tourism”. The Government helped to promote Atomic Tourism as safe and fun with no consideration for nuclear fallout. (We know today that nuclear fallout from Atomic testing travels around the world).
    • What would appear to be a star at the top of the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada” sign is said to represent an Atomic Bomb detonation
    • The 1953 year book for Las Vegas High school had an atomic mushroom cloud on its cover
    • Vegas casinos had signs on the roulette wheels and the dice tables that said house rules are if the ball clicks or dice flip because of some trembling house rules prevail.
    • At the Nevada Test site they built small towns in the blast zones called “Doom Towns” and they positioned families of mannequins and towns operating to see how they would be impacted. The mannequins were supplied by JC Penny. Once test were done, JC Penny took the mannequins back and no one has any idea what they did with them.
    • On a side note: The Manhattan project that developed the nuclear bomb employed over 130,000 people around the country.
  • Liability for Asbestos

    environmental Strategist, between the lines:  The California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Employers who use asbestos can be held responsible for illnesses suffered by members of their workers’ households.

    If you are not familiar with Libby Montana, it is to asbestos what Flint Michigan has been to lead contaminated water.  In Libby, asbestos miners came home with asbestos on their clothes, so it was released into the air and breathed in by local residents and family members who contracted asbestos related illnesses.

    Most people do not realize how much asbestos is still used by U.S. business.  For those using asbestos in their business operations, share the following information with them on the California court because it has set a precedent.

    Photo Credit: http://www.aawl.org.au
    Photo Credit: http://www.aawl.org.au

    More than 1,000 tons a year for asbestos containing products

    by: Steven Kazan

    Asbestos hasn’t been mined in the U.S. since 2002. However, the country still imports the mineral from nations like Brazil, which still mines it. During the last three years, the U.S. took in more than 1,000 tons of asbestos annually.

    So where does it all go? The U.S. Geological Survey lists the chloroalkali industry as the leading user of asbestos, consuming 57 percent of mineral sources. This business uses asbestos for devices that convert brine into chlorine because the material is strong and resistant to acids and bases.

    As for the rest of the asbestos that comes into the U.S., unfortunately, some industries are still allowed to manufacture certain asbestos containing products. These include, but are not limited to:

    • Cement corrugated sheets
    • Cement flat sheets
    • Cement pipe
    • Pipeline wrap
    • Vinyl floor tiles
    • Automatic transmission components
    • Clutch facings
    • Disk brake pads
    • Drum brake linings
    • Gaskets
    • Roof coatings
    • Roofing felt
    • Clothing

     

    Liability for asbestos goes beyond workplace:

    http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Liability-for-asbestos-goes-beyond-workplace-10658229.php

  • Illegal Disposal of Waste

    Illegal Disposal of Waste

    environmental Strategist®, between the lines:  As we have reported in the past, illegal disposal of waste in the United States is some tens of billions of dollars a year industry.  Besides the obvious environmental damage caused by illegal disposal of waste, it also poses a huge environmental exposure upon innocent third parties for bodily injury, property damage and business income.

    Environmental liabilities also create huge reputational risk for guilty parties.  In the case of Princess Cruises, this is not the first time they have been penalized for illegal disposal of waste.  In today’s transparent society, I wonder how many people decided to take a cruise with a competitor of Princess Cruises because they do not want to support a company that puts profit before the safety of humans and our environment?

    splendor20of20seas20pollution_zps0c8a78ce
    Photo credit: dailykos.com

    eS Risk Management Strategy:  When a business tells you they do not have any environmental exposures, share with them how illegal disposal of waste in the United States is some tens of billions of dollars a year industry.  Find out what their financial assurance strategy is- should they be negatively impacted by illegally disposed of waste?  Depending upon the guilty party to correct the problem, is a wishful, not practical strategy.  Pollution insurance can protect insureds, if they are impacted by illegally disposed of waste on their property or migrating onto their property.

     

    Princess Cruise Lines to Pay $40 Million for Illegal Dumping:  Princess Cruise Lines to pay $40 million fine for illegal dumping

    O’Reilly Auto Parts to pay $9.86 million settlement for mishandling hazardous waste:  http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/crime/article118773768.html

  • Is Talc the new asbestos?

    environmental Strategist, between the lines: As your environmental team member, one of Environmental Risk Managers functions is to share competitive environmental intelligence on trending environmental exposures that can impact your client’s. Due to recent events we want to make sure Talc is on your radar screen. That’s right, the Talc used to powder babies bottoms, the Talc basketball player LeBron James puts on his hands as part of a pre-game ritual to make a big cloud of it go into the air.

    7f7f9
    Photo credit – www.wonba.fr

    Talc is dug from the ground and sometimes can be interlaced with asbestos. Talc has microscopic fibers that can damage lungs if inhaled. China and Pakistan are two of the biggest suppliers of talc together providing 150,000 tons per year to the US.

    In the United States roughly 25% of talc is used for Plastics, 17% for ceramics, 15% for paints, 15% for paper, 9% for cosmetics, 6% for roofing, 3% for rubber

    Talc as a food additive, filler for capsules, pills and chewing gum. It’s used in processing olive oil, it is used in electric cables and insecticides. Talc powder has the ability to absorb moisture, absorb oils, absorb odor, serve as a lubricant, and produce an effect with human skin. Due to its low shear strength, Talc is one of the oldest known solid lubricants. Talc is a friction-reducing additive in lubricating oils.

    A form of Talc known as “soapstone” is a soft rock that is easily carved and has been used to make ornamental and practical objects for thousands of years. It has been used to make soap, crayons, sculptures, bowls, countertops, sinks, stoves, hearths, pipe bowls, and many other objects.

    The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents not use baby powder because it poses a risk of respiratory problems, including breathing trouble and serious lung damage if the baby inhales it. The particles are so small, it’s difficult to keep them out of the air while applying the powder.

    The links below offer more information on the environmental exposures of Talc.

    http://www.clydeco.com/insight/article/is-talc-the-new-asbestos

    http://www.fairwarning.org/2015/09/talc-and-asbestos/

    http://www.mesothelioma.com/asbestos-exposure/products/talc-powder/

    http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/athome/talcum-powder-and-cancer

  • What you need to know about UST’s

    environmental Strategist, between the lines:  Below is a You Tube video that does an excellent job of explaining how an underground storage tank (UST) operates.  Under Federal law, regulated UST’s must evidence financial assurance should there be a release from the UST system.

    The problem facing UST owners today is the age of their tanks.  Back in the 1990’s the Federal Government established financial assurance requirements but never consulted with the insurance industry to find out what the insurability of a 20 or 30 year old tank system would be.  Now we have an aging UST’s in the United States and for the most part, tank owners have not budgeted to replace their systems and find themselves caught

    If you have insureds with tanks over 20 years old you need to coach them up on replacing their tanks.  Once a tank reaches 25 years old there are just a couple of insurance carriers that will offer coverage and the premiums and deductibles go up drastically and retro dates are shortened.  For tanks over 30 years old it is a crap shoot if any insurance carrier will offer coverage.

    As your environmental team member, ERMI is ready to assist you and your insureds with their UST financial assurance needs.

    video on underground storage tanks  

  • Criminal Investigation Underway in Air Force Toxic Chemical Release

    environmental Strategist, between the lines:  The United States Military may be the world’s number one polluter.  While military bases offer an economic boom for the communities where they are located, they also have a history of polluting their neighbors.  Billions of tax dollars are spent each year cleaning up pollution caused by our military.  Contamination from military operations can spread for miles impacting third party properties.

    My experience is the military is slow to identify contamination and even slower in paying to take care of the problem.  What is your financial assurance strategy if you are near a military base to address pollution liabilities?  Pollution insurance can protect you from third party polluters.

    U.S. Air Force photo

    DENVER — Military and civilian authorities are investigating whether any laws were broken in the unexplained discharge of 150,000 gallons of wastewater tainted with toxic chemicals at an Air Force base in Colorado.

    The Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are looking into the release of the contaminated wastewater at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, officials said Tuesday.

    The chemicals flowed into the city’s wastewater treatment system but didn’t get into its drinking water, officials said.

    The discharge was discovered on Oct. 12 and announced six days later.

    Air Force officials have scheduled a news conference Wednesday to discuss the incident and other issues surrounding the chemicals, called perfluorinated compounds or PFCs.

    PFCs are an ingredient in firefighting foam used at Peterson and other military installations. They have also been used in non-stick cookware coatings and other applications.

    PFCs have been linked to prostate, kidney and testicular cancer, along with other illnesses. The Air Force announced in August it would switch to some other type of foam.

    Air Force officials haven’t said how high the levels of PFCs were in the wastewater released at Peterson.

    The Colorado Springs wastewater treatment system isn’t set up to remove PFCs, so they were still in the water when it was discharged into Fountain Creek, officials said. State officials said no communities take water directly from the creek downstream from the treatment plant.

    The water was in a storage tank used to recirculate the water to a fire training area, officials said. It would have been re-used in firefighting exercises.

    The discharge was discovered during a routine tank inspection. Air Force officials said they found no obvious defects in the tank.

    The Air Force is also investigating whether Peterson is the source of PFC contamination found in well water in two other nearby communities, the town of Fountain and an unincorporated community called Security-Widefield.