Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. has sued more than 50 insurance companies that used to insure its natural gas conversion complex in South Baltimore, asking a Baltimore County court to order the insurers to pay past and future costs for the environmental monitoring of the site.
The defendants include syndicates organized by Lloyd's of London and a raft of domestic insurers including Baltimore-based USF&G; Corp.
A USF&G; spokeswoman said that she was unfamiliar with the suit and that the company's expert on it was not immediately available.
BGE used the Spring Gardens plant at Ostend and Leadenhall streets to convert coal into natural gas from 1855 to 1970, company spokeswoman Nancy Caplan said. The process resulted in the company depositing "coal tar" that contains toxic chemicals around the site, and BGE is working with state and federal environmental regulators to assess the risks that the chemicals pose to the environment, a process that could lead to a costly cleanup.
"The residue is contamination at microscopic levels, parts per billion," said Peter Kalis, a Pittsburgh lawyer representing BGE. "It's a very difficult, elusive, expensive process."
BGE attorney Colleen Lamont said the company has allocated $30 million to pay for researching and possibly cleaning up the site, but would not say how much of the money has been spent.
The company's suit, filed this month, asks the Baltimore County Circuit Court to order the insurance companies to pay, contending that Maryland law classified the damage as property damage that was covered under the company's comprehensive general liability insurance policies.
"This is legally defined to be property damage, and property damage was one of the two major risks the policies covered," Mr. Kalis said.