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Conflict of Laws Keyed to Hay, 16th Ed.
American Motorists Ins. Co. v. ARTRA Group, Inc.
Citation:
338 Md. 560, 659 A.2d 1295 (1995)Facts
In 1980, Sherwin-Williams Company purchased a paint manufacturing factory located in Baltimore City on Hollins Ferry Road from ARTRA. The site had been used for manufacturing, packaging, and distributing paints, varnishes, adhesives, and related chemical products since the mid-to-late 1940s. After the sale, the Maryland Department of the Environment required Sherwin-Williams to investigate and remedy hazardous waste contamination in the soil and groundwater at the site. In December 1991, Sherwin-Williams filed suit against ARTRA and other previous owners seeking recovery for investigation and remediation costs. The complaint alleged that numerous spills of hazardous substances and wastes were released at the site during regular operations, through discharge into storm drainage systems, through improper filling of underground storage tanks, and through abandonment of underground storage tanks. The alleged pollution occurred over a period from 1946 through 1980, involving thousands of drums of hazardous chemicals stored negligently and illegally, many leaking onto the ground, and over fifty underground storage tanks, many leaking into surrounding soils and groundwater. American Motorists had issued nine comprehensive general liability policies to ARTRA and its predecessors covering April 1, 1976 through April 1, 1985, all containing pollution exclusions that precluded coverage except for discharges that were “sudden and accidental.” ARTRA and its predecessors were headquartered in Northfield, Illinois, American Motorists was headquartered in Illinois, and all policies were countersigned in Illinois.
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