More and more insurers are bringing in environmental experts in case of disasters

An underground fuel tank leak can be an environmental disaster and it may not always coincide with insurance coverage, even when there is an active homeowner insurance policy in place. Issues such as maintenance of the fuel oil storage system, extent of environmental impact, insurance endorsements taken out by the policyholder and circumstances leading to the cause of the leak all potentially affect the trigger of insurance coverage. That's why more and more insurers are bringing in environmental experts. We do the investigation and assist the claims agents in interpreting data. H2M has a long history of working with insurance companies to address such issues. The value we provide is technical support for claims managers when they're evaluating claims and contamination on a property and the cause of those releases. We make sure contractors are operating at a cost within industry standards in accordance with regulations and gather information so that claim coverage determinations can be made. We also provide expertise in evaluating conditions and age dating of releases for potential subrogation against other parties such as previous insurance companies and/or fuel delivery companies. For example, did the release occur during the insurance coverage endorsement period? In one project there was a release from a 3,000 gallon underground fuel oil tank on the insured's property and into adjacent surface water. The contractor was engaged by the local regulatory agency under a State Spill Response Contract. When the contractor realized there was insurance coverage the cost rates increased. We conducted a freedom of information act request and obtained copies of the Spill Response Contract unit rates. When comparing the contractor's pricing to the homeowner/insurance company pricing we found the rates were excessive. With that evaluation, the cost for the resulting remediation dropped over 30% from $72,000 to less than $50,000. There are about 640,000 underground storage tanks nationwide that store petroleum or hazardous substances, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 1988, EPA issued regulations that addressed three areas: technical requirements, financial responsibility requirements, and government oversight of underground storage tanks. Not all insurance companies have the same policy conditions, endorsements and exclusions. H2M is an invaluable resource in keeping tabs on the government and changes in environmental regulations ensuring future liability is controlled, cleanups are completed expeditiously, and costs are controlled. H2M's (h2m.com) environmental division provides such specialized services as: hazardous site characterization and remediation, regulatory compliance and facility design, groundwater modeling, due diligence programs, Brownfield development and litigation support. In addition to cases involving fuel oil storage system failures, H2M provides consulting services in mold remediation, large complex commercial claims, cause and origin services (structural evaluation, water infiltration, etc.) and more. The division has provided claim support on thousands of residential and commercial claims for the insurance industry. Such support includes confirmation of coverage, subrogation assessment, exposure assessment, and claim closure and cost control. The H2M environmental division has been providing environmental consulting, indoor air quality/mold and asbestos abatement services to the insurance sector for the last decade. These projects have varied from cause and origin assignments for residential oil tank leaks to large commercial and industrial facilities with significant soil and groundwater impact. The insurance initiative are led by Michael Gentils, vice president in N.Y. and Charles Martello, P.E., vice president in N.J. Day to day operations is led by Kevin Taylor project manager in N.Y. and Blair Sonzogni, P.G., project geologist in N.J. Recently, H2M combined the environmental and indoor air quality divisions in New York, since these teams serviced the same clientele. H2M combined the divisions into one to increase project efficiency and to reduce response time for each client. Sui Leong, PE, is vice president, Charles Martello, PE, is vice president and Kevin Taylor is project manager in the H2M environmental division, Parsippany, N.J., and Melville, N.Y. respectively.