CGL Exception Not Applicable

In 1973 Belleville Industries Inc. acquired an old brick and wood building situated on a river near the entry to New Bedford Harbor. The company continued to manufacture capacitors, as had the seller of the property for 28 years. The process included the use of PCBs purchased from Monsanto Chemical Company between 1973 and 1977. Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Company provided comprehensive general liability (CGL) for Belleville. In 1983 the federal and state governments sued Belleville seeking damages and cleanup costs resulting from pollution of the river and harbor. Belleville gave notice of the suit to Lumbermens requesting defense and indemnity. Lumbermens denied coverage and then brought this suit seeking a declaration that it was not liable. After the trial court partially ruled in favor of the governmental parties, Lumbermens joined in a consent decree requiring it to pay $4 million. At subsequent proceedings Belleville limited its claims to discharges from two allegedly “sudden and accidental” events: an exceptionally heavy rainstorm in 1973 and a fire in 1975.