HNRK Coverage Corner

This week at the Coverage Corner, we examine a Second Circuit decision that wades into hot-button topic:  liability coverage for environmental claims involving PFAS (colloquially known as “forever chemicals”).  In a summary ordered issued on May 4, 2026, in Town of Harrietstown v. Westchester Fire Ins. Co., Case No. 22-253-cv, the Second Circuit affirmed a decision from the Northern District of New York, granting summary judgment to the insured on its claim for defense costs.  We wrote about the district court’s decision in an article in Chambers’ 2026 Insurance & ...

In orders issued last week, a panel of the Ninth Circuit and a federal district judge in Hawaii certified questions to the Supreme Courts of Alaska and Hawaii regarding the scope of a liability policy’s “absolute” or “total” pollution exclusion.  The state high courts will address whether carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide constitute “pollutants” under such an exclusion. 

Ninth Circuit Order – Is Carbon Monoxide a Pollutant Under a Homeowners Policy?

The Ninth Circuit’s order in Estate of Wheeler v. Garrison Property & Casualty Ins. Co., No. 22-35484, issued on ...