Goodyear Rubber & Supply, Inc., an Oregon Corporation v. Great American Insurance Co., a New York Corporation

Good Law
545 F.2d 95
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitDecember 22, 197674-3125California517 words

Opinion

Opinion

Duniway, J.

Appellant Goodyear purchased two insurance policies from appellee Great American. The first, a “Select Liability Policy,” provided:

“Property damage” was defined as “injury to or destruction of tangible property.”

“Occurrence” was defined as:

The second policy, known as a catastrophe or umbrella policy, provided:

On August 8, 1971, while a barge owned by Pacific Inland Navigation Company was discharging gasoline at a Tank Farm in Pasco, Washington, a hose assembly sold by Goodyear leaked, causing an explosion and fire which killed a Pacific Inland employee, caused extensive damage to the Tank Farm, and endangered and damaged the barge, setting it afire. The tug Chinook, owned by Shaver Transportation Company, removed the barge to safety and helped to put out the fire. Shaver later filed a salvage claim against the barge’s owners, who cross-complained against Goodyear. Goodyear then brought this separate action for declaratory relief. The trial court gave judgment for Great American, and Goodyear appeals. The question is whether the policies cover the potential liability of Goodyear for the salvage claim. We hold that they do.

Resolution of this controversy requires us to…

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