Environmental Insurance
VERTEX was retained to manage and oversee third party claims associated with a major crude oil spill off of the coast of California. The spill occurred from the ruptured flange of a submarine pipeline connecting an oil platform to a processing facility on-shore. This spill caused injuries to natural resources including marine mammals, marine and shore birds, shoreline rocky intertidal, sand beach, and estuarine habitats.
VERTEX’s responsibilities included review of all response costs submitted by the insured and responding county, state, and federal agencies. As part of the cost review process, we identified and removed $1.5 to $2 million in excluded, duplicative, and/or unrelated costs submitted by the insured for reimbursement. VERTEX coordinated the cause of loss investigation and conducted a subrogation investigation. Several contractors responsible for the construction and testing of the pipeline were identified. VERTEX worked closely with both first and third party carriers to properly allocate property and casualty loses which totaled several million dollars.
VERTEX served as the technical lead for the responsible party in the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) claim asserted by a Trustee group consisting of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Department of Interior (U.S. Fish and Wildlife), U.S. Department of Defense (Vandenberg Air Force Base), California Department of Fish and Game / Office of Spill Response and Prevention (OSPR), California State Lands Commission, and others. VERTEX developed a strong and convincing technical case that minimized the Trustees’ claims and achieved a reasonable settlement.
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