Court Decision Shows How Pollution Exceptions Impact Insurance Claims

U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen of the Southern District of Texas denied Megasand Enterprise Inc.’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by its insurer Everest National Insurance Company.

In its lawsuit, Everest seeks a decision relieving it from having to defend Megasand from claims that its discharges worsened flooding following Hurricane Harvey.

Megasand is a defendant in several Harris County, Texas, lawsuits brought by residents who claim their homes flooded after Hurricane Harvey in August 2017 due to negligent discharges of sediment into the San Jacinto River and Spring Creek by Megasand and other gravel mining companies.

The claims state that these discharges reduced the capacity of the waterways to handle the flooding caused by Harvey.

The suits were brought by hundreds of residents who allege that mines discharged sediment and silt into these waterways without authorization.