Yes. One of the important purposes of specialist Environmental Liability Insurance is the ability to cover certain gradual pollution exposures.

The actual cover depends on the policy.

What is gradual pollution? #

Gradual pollution develops over time rather than resulting from one obvious sudden event.

Examples can include:

• A slowly leaking underground tank.
• Contamination progressively entering soil.
• Chemicals gradually entering groundwater.
• Repeated small leaks.
• Long-term seepage.
• Pollution associated with historical operations.

The contamination may not be discovered until months or years after it began.

Why can gradual pollution create an insurance gap? #

Many general liability policies restrict pollution cover.

Where pollution cover is available, it can be limited to events that are sudden, identifiable or accidental.

A gradual pollution condition may therefore fall outside the standard liability policy.

Does specialist cover automatically insure every gradual pollution problem? #

No.

Environmental policies still contain:

• Definitions.
• Exclusions.
• Retroactive provisions.
• Reporting requirements.
• Limits and sublimits.
• Conditions concerning known contamination.

Known pollution should be disclosed before cover is arranged.

Can pollution on my own property be covered? #

Depending on the environmental policy, certain first-party clean-up costs at an insured location can be covered as well as third-party liabilities.

This is another important distinction from conventional Public Liability Insurance.