Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/374170
36 / SEPTEMBER.OCTOBER.2014 RINKMAGAZINE.COM I n recent years, the issue of health concerns caused by excessive levels of carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide from ice rink equipment — ice resurfacers, water heaters, dehumidification equipment and other fossil fuel-burning sources — has been a topic in the media and in the legislatures of several states. While the safety of customers and employees is the paramount concern for rink managers, another area of concern for rink managers should be insurance coverage for injuries arising out of exposure to carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. Carbon monoxide exposure can cause significant bodily injury to customers and players alike and has been deemed by at least one court as a "pollutant," which is not covered under the typical commercial general liability policy purchased by most rinks. As a result, should a claim or lawsuit be made arising out of exposure to carbon monoxide, the rink could find itself uninsured and forced to defend the lawsuit out of its own pocket. An example of a rink finding itself without insurance coverage occurred when members of a university ice hockey team sued a local ice arena in Pennsylvania for personal injuries arising out of exposure to carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. The players contended in the lawsuit that they were in the visiting team's locker room, which was located near the ice resurfacer storage area. While they were in the locker room and the arena, they contended they were exposed to harmful levels of carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. The ice arena tendered the lawsuit to its insurance company, which denied coverage on the basis that carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide are "pollutants," which were excluded from coverage under the terms of the policy. The insurance company filed a declaratory relief lawsuit asking the court to hold that the insurance company did not owe any duty to defend or indemnify the ice arena for the claims made by the hockey team. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania held that there "is no dispute that the nitrogen dioxide and the carbon monoxide are pollutants within the meaning defined in" the policy. The policy defined "pollutants" as any "solid, liquid, gaseous or thermal irritant or contaminant, including smoke, vapor, soot, fumes, acids, alkaloids, chemicals and waste." Clearing the Air Risk management Protecting the rink and its patrons Carbon Monoxide and Insurance Coverage CARBON MONOXIDE HAS BEEN DEEMED BY AT LEAST ONE COURT AS A "POLLUTANT," WHICH IS NOT COVERED UNDER THE TYPICAL COMMERCIAL GENERAL LIABILITY POLICY PURCHASED BY MOST RINKS. by PAUL W. SMIGLIANI