Montrose Chem. Corp. v. SUPERIOR CT.(CANADIAN UNIV.)

This declaratory relief action was filed to determine whether several insurers are obligated to defend and indemnify their insured in three groups of environmental contamination lawsuits. The issue is whether this action can be set for trial before the third party suits are resolved. Our answer is that, on the record before us, we cannot say one way or the other, and we therefore return the ball to the trial court, with directions to determine the status of the underlying lawsuits and the scope of the carriers’ defenses, and then decide whether it is appropriate to set this case for trial.

Background

From 1947 to 1982, Montrose Chemical Corporation of California manufactured DDT. In the early 1980’s, Montrose was named as a defendant in several private and governmental environmental contamination actions, some of which are still winding their way through the courts. Since about 1960, Montrose has been covered by comprehensive general liability insurance policies purchased from several insurance companies, all of which provide defense and indemnity coverage for third party claims. When Montrose tendered defense of the contamination actions to its CGL carriers, most of…