Property Types

Commercial Printer

Commercial printing operations expose facilities to numerous environmental risks. The extensive use of lithographic inks, fountain solutions, chemical developers, and industrial cleaning solvents creates significant environmental exposure. Accidental discharge of these pollutants into on-site drains or storm sewers could enter drinking water sources and local waterways, contaminating them. Printing facilities use presses and prepress equipment that can emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous fumes. They also store bulk materials, liquid adhesives for bindery, and generate significant paper dust that could contaminate the environment or cause a nuisance if released. Hazardous materials can create environmental liability through improper storage, mixing incompatible chemicals, releases during loading and transport, and "cradle-to-grave" waste-disposal liabilities.

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Environmental Exposures May Include

Chemical Storage
Air Emissions
Stormwater Run-off
Cargo Securement
Mold
Fire Hazards
Hazardous Waste Management
Wastewater
Off-Site & Historical Contamination

Chemical Storage

Releases of bulk inks, prepress chemicals, blanket washes, or press cleaning solvents from storage areas, containers, wastewater systems, or floor drains could impact soil or groundwater. A spill near a printing press could migrate off-site, harm municipal sanitary sewers, and result in cleanup claims, third-party suits, and civil fines.

Air Emissions

Air emissions primarily emanate from the printing process. Lithographic and web printing heavily utilize inks and solvents that emit VOCs. Additionally, extensive bindery and paper-cutting operations generate paper dust. Improper controls, failures of ventilation/filtration systems (such as dust collectors or baghouses), or malfunctioning equipment can result in regulatory emission exceedances, fines, and health hazards or nuisance claims from neighboring third parties.

Stormwater Run-off

Stormwater run-off could come into contact with the facility's loading docks, fueling areas, waste areas, or outside storage. Heavy-duty delivery trucks bringing in bulk paper/chemicals, or taking out fulfillment orders, can leak automotive fluids. If stormwater is not properly controlled before discharging into storm drainage systems, it can pollute soil and groundwater.

Cargo Securement

Companies that handle global and local shipping, logistics, and fulfillment may be held liable for accidental releases during the transportation of printed products, chemical supplies, or hazardous wastes due to improper cargo securement or vehicle overturns.

Mold

Commercial printers warehouse large quantities of raw paper and finished paper goods. Mold could develop from moisture intrusion due to storms, leaking water pipes, sprinklers, or HVAC systems. If pooled water seeps into sub-roof areas or humidity is poorly managed in climate-controlled prepress or warehouse areas, mold can develop, posing health hazards and causing product loss.

Fire Hazards

Printing facilities house large amounts of highly combustible materials: massive paper rolls, cardboard, and highly flammable press solvents. Incompatible chemicals stored together can react violently. A fire spreading through a paper warehouse and chemical storage area could emit toxic fumes. Furthermore, firefighting water could create heavily contaminated run-off that spreads to nearby storm drains, resulting in environmental cleanup liability.

Hazardous Waste Management

Commercial printers generate hazardous or regulated wastes requiring special disposal, such as spent solvents, heavy-metal-containing waste inks, and heavily soiled shop rags. Improper waste disposal could lead to legal consequences. Under federal law, a printer can become a Potentially Responsible Party (PRP) and be liable for cleanup costs at a non-owned disposal (NOD) facility or landfill where their waste was sent.

Wastewater

Cleaning printing presses, imaging equipment, and plates generates wastewater that may contain heavy metals, oils, and chemical solvents. Releases of inadequately treated wastewater into commercial drains or spills during transfer to waste storage areas pose environmental risks and may violate municipal wastewater permits.

Off-Site & Historical Contamination

Many commercial printing facilities are located in industrial parks. Contaminants from neighboring facilities could have migrated onto the printer’s property, or historical site uses could have impacted the soil prior to the printer's occupancy.

Environmental Pollution Liability Can Provide Coverage For

  • Integrated GL/site pollution and options to include excess, auto, and work comp may be available
  • Monoline site pollution liability
  • Third-party claims for bodily injury and property damage
  • First-party and third-party cleanup
  • Both sudden and gradual pollution conditions
  • Defense of third-party claims
  • Emergency response costs
  • Natural resource damage
  • First and third-party transportation pollution liability
  • Loading and unloading
  • Business interruption resulting from pollution conditions
  • Aboveground and underground storage tanks
  • Non-owned disposal sites
  • Civil fines and penalties
  • Mold, legionella, and more
  • Illicit abandonment

Claims Scenarios & Examples

An employee at a printing facility was using a forklift to move a pallet of 55-gallon drums containing blanket wash (a toxic cleaning solvent). The forks accidentally punctured the bottom drum. Over 40 gallons of solvent leaked across the loading dock and down into an unsealed storm drain that emptied into a nearby creek. The facility paid over $180,000 in emergency state spill response expenses, natural resource damage assessments, and fines.
A commercial prepress and printing company contracted a licensed waste hauler to dispose of their spent photographic developers, waste inks, and soiled shop rags. Five years later, the designated disposal facility went bankrupt and was found to be leaking toxic chemicals into the local aquifer. Under Superfund laws, the printing company was named a PRP alongside other businesses and was forced to contribute $250,000 toward the landfill's remediation.
A commercial bindery and printing facility failed to properly maintain its rooftop dust collection system (baghouse). Over several months, fine paper dust and chemical particulate matter were continuously exhausted into the air, coating neighboring residential properties and vehicles. The neighbors filed a class-action lawsuit for property damage and nuisance, resulting in extensive defense costs and a $120,000 settlement.
A commercial printer washed down their lithographic presses daily. Unbeknownst to the facility manager, the underground piping connecting their floor drains to the municipal sewer had cracked. Over a decade, industrial wastewater containing heavy metals from colored inks and chemical solvents leached directly into the soil beneath the building's concrete slab. The contamination was only discovered during a baseline environmental assessment when attempting to refinance the property, stalling the transaction and costing over $400,000 in soil remediation.

Final Consideration

Your business can be faced with the cost to defend itself against allegations or legal action from pollution related events, regardless if you are at fault or not. Having the proper insurance coverage in place will help fund the expenses incurred to investigate or defend against a claim or suit and provide you with environmental claims handling expertise.

Disclaimer

This environmental risk overview offers a general understanding of potential risks and may not reflect all risks associated with your business. Environmental Risk Professionals has compiled this overview for informational purposes only. This overview does not constitute legal opinion or advice, nor does it establish a consultant-client relationship. This overview is not intended to guide project parties in interpreting specific contracts or resolving disputes; such decisions may require consultation with counsel and depend on various factors. © 2025 Environmental Risk Professionals, LLC

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