Motorists Mutual Insurance Co. v. RSJ, Inc.

OPINION

JOHNSTONE, Judge.

At issue is the proper construction to be given a “pollution exclusion” contained in a commercial general liability policy issued by appellant. In a declaratory judgment proceeding, the trial judge rejected the insurer’s attempt to escape liability for damages stemming from exposure to carbon monoxide fumes due to a leak in the vent stack of the insured’s boiler. The trial judge based her refusal to give effect to the exclusion upon a finding that the policy language is ambiguous, citing the rationale utilized by a North Carolina court construing an identical exclusion…