In Land O' Lakes, Inc. v. Employers Mutual Liability Insurance Co. of Wisconsin, No. 12-1752, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 18036 (8th Cir. Aug. 29, 2013) (applying Minnesota law), the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed a district court's holding that a six-year statute of limitations barred a policyholder's breach of contract claim on the duty to defend because the policyholder filed suit more than six years after the insurers denied coverage for a potentially responsible party (PRP) issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The court also held that the owned property exclusion excluded any indemnity obligation because the clean-up ordered by the EPA was limited to property owned by the policyholder.
Land O' Lakes arose out of an environmental pollution claim. In 1982, the policyholder, Land O'Lakes, acquired a company that had operated an oil refinery in Oklahoma. Id. at *3. In 1998, the EPA determined that the refinery had released hazardous materials and began to clean-up the refinery site. Id. In 2001, the EPA sent a letter to the policyholder advising the policyholder that it was a PRP for the site's clean-up costs. Id. at **3-4.
The policyholder sought a defense and indemnity from two insurers, Wausau and Travelers, for the PRP letter under...
