ERP - Environmental Risk Professionals

Pesticide Migration and Contamination

The term pesticide covers many compounds, including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, rodenticides, molluscicides, nematicides, plant growth regulators, and others. Pesticides applied to crops can leach through soil and into groundwater or become mobile through run-off or drift and enter surface water or adjacent properties. Pesticide contamination can impact the drinking water supply and cause natural resource damage to non-target organisms, ranging from beneficial soil microorganisms to killing bees, wildlife, and aquatic systems.

Pesticide Drift and Air Quality

Pesticide drift can create hazardous air pollutants that can travel outside the intended area when sprayed on the ground or in the air. Pesticide sprays can directly hit non-target vegetation, drift, or volatilize from the treated area and contaminate air, soil, and non-target plants. Some pesticide drift occurs during every application, even from ground equipment. Weather conditions at the time of application and temperature and relative humidity change the spread of the pesticide in the air.

Fertilizer and Nutrient Pollution

Fertilizers are rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, sources of nutrient pollution. Water and soil containing nitrogen and phosphorus can collect in stormwater run-off, wash into nearby waters, or leach into ground waters, harm water quality and human health and cause excess algae blooms, damaging ecosystems and aquatic life. High nitrate concentrations in drinking water can cause methemoglobinemia, a potentially fatal infant disease known as blue baby syndrome. Fertilized soils can also be sources of gaseous, nitrogen-based compounds like ammonia and nitrogen oxides. Nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas and can impair breathing and limit visibility.

Equipment Leaks and Operational Spills

Leaks from farm equipment of petroleum products, including fuels and oils, can occur from a rupture or malfunction of parts or equipment rollover. Leaks can occur during use or storage and maintenance and leach into soil or collect in run-off. Spills can also occur during the loading and unloading of fuel and fluids into equipment and storage tanks.

Storage Tanks

An accidental release during the storage and handling of petroleum products, automotive fluids, and agriculture chemicals can lead to environmental cleanup and tort liability. Underground and aboveground storage tanks can leak, and improper or no secondary containment can allow the stored contents to contaminate soil and groundwater or get collected in run-off. Storage of concentrated ammonia-based fertilizers may react with other stored incompatible materials (e.g., lime, urea, nitrates, and sulfur) if leaked or spilled, resulting in a fire or air pollutants being emitted.

Transporting Chemicals

Leaks or spills of fuel or agriculture chemicals during transport for off-site operations create transportation pollution exposure.

Soil Erosion and Sedimentation

Farming activities reduce surface cover and compact the soil, increasing run-off and soil erosion, resulting in larger stormwater run-off contaminated with silt and sediment. Improper erosion controls can allow run-off of silt and sediment into water systems, severely damaging water quality, adversely affecting channel stability, and causing ecological damage that threatens wildlife and aquatic systems.

Hazardous Waste Disposal

Generated wastes may classify as hazardous and require special disposal procedures, like pesticides and fertilizers. Pesticide waste can include rinse material from containers and spray equipment, leftover spray solutions, and excess pesticides. Improper handling and disposal can lead to environmental liability. Federal and state laws may regulate pesticide waste disposal; improper disposal can also result in fines. Disposing of used automotive fluids, tires, batteries, and other maintenance materials such as paints and solvents may also carry hazardous disposal liability.

Agricultural Run-off

Agricultural run-off from crop operations is a primary source of pollution to streams, lakes, rivers, wetlands, and estuaries. Run-off picks up and carries pollutants from soil erosion, plowing, and improper, excessive, or poorly timed application of pesticides and fertilizers. These pollutants include toxins, heavy metals, sediment, nitrates, and pathogens.

On-site cleanup of new and pre-existing pollution conditions

Off-site cleanup of new and pre-existing pollution conditions

Third-party claims for bodily injury and property damage

Third-party claims for cleanup

Both sudden and gradual pollution conditions

Aboveground and underground storage tanks

Non-owned disposal sites

Natural resource damage

Mold, bacteria, viruses, legionella, and more

Business interruption resulting from pollution conditions

First and third-party transportation pollution liability

Loading and unloading

Defense of third-party claims

Illicit abandonment

Silt and sedimentation

Claims Scenarios & Examples

After more than 50 farm workers experienced vomiting, nausea, and fainting, with one having to go to the hospital, it was found that they had been exposed to chlorpyrifos. It was discovered that the pesticide migrated from the next-door mandarin orange orchard into the cabbage field where they worked.

While driving through a small farming community of about 5,000 residents, a truck slowly leaked pesticide for about three miles. As a result, the fumes overcame several police officers, about 11 people were sent to the hospital, and a trailer park had to be evacuated. The chemical was later found to be Dyno-Sib, a pesticide-herbicide used to kill potato vines before the crop is harvested.

Before applying nitrogen fertilizer to a farm field, the holding tank at the farm was filled with liquid fertilizer. A valve on the tanker malfunctioned, spilling about 4,500 gallons of liquid fertilizer. The fertilizer spilled into a field and spread into a river. Local, state, and environmental officials responded to the incident.

A truck was transporting liquid fertilizer. While turning on a highway, the chain securing the tank broke, and 1,500 gallons of fertilizer spilled. Volunteer fire departments responded and cleaned up the spill. The state’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources was also noted to make sure no additional cleanup was necessary.

An aboveground storage tank had a broken supply line, resulting in a fuel spill. The fuel was released into ditches on both sides of a roadway adjacent to the property and into a neighboring river. Local, state, and federal agencies were notified, and the insured was held responsible for the remediation efforts, which included removing soil, dredging parts of the river, and implementing a river sediment monitoring plan. Claim costs exceeded $2 million.

An employee was driving a crop farm’s tractor-trailer filled with liquid fertilizer to a field for application when the tank on the truck severed from the truck and spilled fertilizer on the road. The driver pulled over and opened the trailer door, releasing contents into a storm sewer that drained into a river. The release resulted in a fish kill. The crop farm and driver were fined $80,000 plus a victim fine surcharge.

When spraying pesticide on a farm’s fields, the company incorrectly applied metam-sodium. The chemical migrated in the air to a nearby neighborhood where more than 250 people were affected. Dozens of the residents sued the pesticide company, who then agreed to pay a $60,000 fine and paid 84 residents $500,000. The farm that was sprayed also paid $275,000 to the residents.

A crop farm was found to have violated its federal Clean Water Act permit over 300 times by discharging industrial wastewater into the nearby river. The wastewater was generated through the farm’s crop irrigation, equipment washing, and sanitizing activities. Pollutants in the wastewater included nitrogen, phosphorus, bacteria, suspended solids, and other pollutants, plus various types of cleaners and sanitizers. The farm faced $78,000 to settle the suit and was required to follow a plan to bring it into compliance with the Clean Water Act.

An insured’s property was found to have low levels of fertilizer constituent contamination. Soil sampling was required, and results were submitted to the state regulatory agency, which required a corrective action plan. The site remediation included the excavation and removal of contaminated soils. In addition, a toxic tort lawsuit was filed by residents claiming bodily injury from the contamination. The pollution liability policy paid over $750,000 for costs associated with the site investigation, monitoring remediation, and resolution of the toxic tort lawsuit.

Property Types

Agriculture - Crops

Environmental Exposures May Include: