Potash Corporation seeks coverage for environmental liabilities

Client(s) Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Inc.

Jones Day represented Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Inc. subsidiary PCS White Springs in connection with its claim for insurance coverage for environmental liabilities arising from Tropical Storm Debby. During Tropical Storm Debby, PCS faced a once-in-3,000-years storm event that forced PCS to take extraordinary action to avert an environmental disaster and prevent the catastrophic failure of its phosphogypsum stack system. These actions, undertaken to mitigate any environmental damage caused by the storm, resulted in losses of millions of dollars. Accordingly, PCS sought insurance coverage from its pollution insurer, Greenwich Insurance Company, which denied coverage arguing that costs taken to prevent environmental harm were not covered by the policy.

PCS filed suit in Hamilton County, Florida. It also successfully obtained dismissal of a simultaneously filed suit by Greenwich against PCS's Canadian parent company in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois and defeated Greenwich's efforts to dismiss PCS's own suit in state court in Florida. After two years of litigation, PCS filed two motions for summary judgment and two motions to exclude Greenwich's expert witnesses. One day after the hearing on those motions the parties reached a confidential settlement of PCS's claim.

PCS White Springs v. Greenwich Insurance Co., No. 2013-CA-000247 (Fla. 3rd. Cir.)