ELR Citation: 44 ELR 20027
No(s). 2:13-1378 (E.D. Cal. Jan 28, 2014) (Shubb, J.)

A district court held that an insurance company may go forward with its CERCLA claim against several refrigerator waste oil companies for reimbursement of payments it incurred following a hazardous waste spill by its insured. In Chubb Custom Insurance Co. v. Space Systems/Loral Inc., 710 F.3d 946, 43 ELR 20059 (9th Cir. 2013), the Ninth Circuit held that CERCLA requires the insured to make a claim to a potentially liable party before the insurer may bring a subrogation action under §112(c). Here, the insured made a "demand and claim" against the defendants for payment and reimbursement of the incurred expenses. The waste oil companies argued that this allegation is insufficient to show that the insured made a "formal claim," but neither case law nor the statute supports this conclusion. While Chubb held that the term "claimant" refers to "any person who presents a written demand for reimbursement of monetary costs . . . for a CERCLA violation" to a potentially liable party, it did not specify the precise form that a written claim for reimbursement must take. The court, therefore, denied the defendants' motion to dismiss.