Westling Manufacturing Co. v. Western National Mutual Insurance Co.

OPINION

CRIPPEN, Judge.

According to a trial court conclusion, premised on a special jury verdict, respondent Westling Manufacturing Company proved that contamination to the groundwater under and in the vicinity of its property resulted from a sudden and accidental release during a period in which Westling was covered by appellant insurers. The insurers, the court also determined, did not prove that other, ongoing spillage was an overriding cause of the groundwater contamination; thus the court refused to allocate damages over all years in which there was evidence of groundwater contamination.…