Auto Owners Ins. Co. v. City of Tampa Housing Auth.

This case arose from injuries sustained when a child ingested lead paint from the walls of a housing authority complex. The child’s mother sued the housing authority, which sought coverage for the claim under its commercial general liability policy. The policy contained a standard Total Pollution Exclusion excluding coverage for:

"Bodily injury" or "property damage" arising out of the actual, alleged or threatened discharge, dispersal, seepage, migration, release or escape of pollutants.

"Pollutants" are defined to include any solid, liquid, gaseous or thermal irritant or contaminant, including smoke, vapor, soot, fumes, acids, alkalis, chemicals and waste. Waste includes material to be recycled, reconditioned or reclaimed.

The insurer filed a declaratory judgment action on coverage and obtained summary judgment, which the insured appealed. The Court of Appeals upheld the summary judgment. The court noted that the pollution exclusion was unambiguous and reasoned that lead was clearly a pollutant (a "chemical") within the meaning of the policy definition. Next, the court held that injuries caused by the "ingestion and inhalation" of lead from crumbling and peeling paint in a housing authority dwelling clearly arise from the "discharge, dispersal, release, escape, seepage or migration" of a pollutant.