The pollution exclusion has had a long history of being
interpreted by the courts throughout the US. Many substances have
been held to come within the pollution exclusion, resulting in a
bar of insurance coverage for costs sustained by policyholders
addressing those substances in waterways and the air. In a recent
case, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals interpreted the pollution
exclusion in the context of quarry operations and the unintentional
release of “rock fines” into a waterway.
In Eastern Concrete Materials, Inc.
v. Ace American Insurance Co., No. 18-11043 (5th Cir. Jan.
17, 2020), a subsidiary of the policyholder accidentally released
“rock fines” from settlement ponds at its quarry
operations into a creek used for trout fishing. “Rock
fines” are the small particles of rocks that result from
crushing and screening rocks to ever smaller sizes. These particles
are collected in settlement ponds and later are removed, dried and
either used or sold after
