Tred R. Eyerly | Insurance Law Hawaii
The Eighth Circuit faced unusual facts in determining that the collapse of a cave serving as a storage facility was not covered under the policy. Westchester Surplus Lines Ins. Co. v. Interstate Underground Warehouse & Storage, Inc., 2020 U. S. App. LEXIS 83 8th Cir. Jan. 3, 2020).
Interstate operated an underground storage facility in a cave that formerly housed a limestone mine. In 2014, Interstate experienced a series of “dome-outs,” in which layers of rock destabilized, detached, and collapsed from above into the cave.
Interstate’s policy with Westchester included coverage for collapse of a “building” caused by “building decay.” Westchester sought a declaratory judgment that Interstate’s loss was not covered. The district court granted summary judgment for Westchester because the cause of the loss was not “building decay” within the meaning of the primary policy.
When Interstate constructed its facility, a limestone slab from the middle zone of the Bethany Falls limestone provided a natural ceiling. The rubble zone was above this natural ceiling. To ensure that the slab of limestone from the middle zone did not detach and fall into the facility, Interstate inserted steel bolts through the natural ceiling, through the rubble zone, and into the more stable layers of rock above the rubble.
For purposes of the appeal, Westchester accepted that Interstate’s facility was a “building” within the meaning of the policy. The appeal turned on whether the collapse that damaged the “building was caused by “building decay.” So the dispositive question was whether decay in the rubble zone was “building decay.”
The Eighth Circuit was not convinced that the bolting process transformed the rubble zone and other earth around the bolts into part of the “building.” Rather, the bolts reinforced the facility’s natural ceiling, much like pilings beneath a large building provide support to that structure.
The court concluded that the rubble zone above the natural ceiling of Interstate’s facility was not part of the “building.” Because the decay that caused the dome-outs occurred within the rubble zone, the dome-outs were not caused by :building decay” within the meaning of the policy. Therefore, the judgment of the district court was affirmed.