Comprehensive General Liability Policies Under Maine\u27s Ground Water Protection Act: The Law Court\u27s Extraordinary Definition of Ordinary Intelligence

In Patrons Oxford Mutual Insurance Co. v. Marios, the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, sitting as the Law Court, joined the current debate in the state and federal judiciaries as to whether comprehensive general liability (CGL) insurance policies obligate the insurer to indemnify the insured for cleanup costs incurred pursuant to governmentally mandated cleanup of hazardous substances. In that decision, the court held that cleanup costs incurred pursuant to court order authorized by the Maine Underground Oil Storage Facilities and Ground Water Protection Act are not covered by such policies. The explicit basis of the court\u27s decision was that the average Maine insured understands that state-mandated cleanup of hazardous spills is a form of equitable relief for which CGL policies provide no coverage. The decision leaves many Maine businesses and individuals uninsured against the risk of liability for cleanup costs, with a resulting negative effect on the manner and speed in which hazardous spills are cleaned up. The Patrons Oxford decision is therefore at odds with a law intended to ensure prompt cleanup of hazardous spills. While this coverage question is supercharged by the growing awareness and concern over environmental policy, the policy debates are ancillary to the question at hand. As the Law Court correctly noted, resolution of this question reduces to a contractual equation and the calculus is quite simple: the court need only apply governing state contract law to the insurance policy at issue. Nevertheless, this Comment will take up the contract issue in its broader national context for two reasons: first, Maine\u27s prevailing principles of insurance contract interpretation are substantially similar to those of every state that has considered this coverage question; second, the language of the special multi-peril liability policy issued to the insureds in the Patrons Oxford case is substantially similar to the language found in standardized, industry-wide CGL policies. Generally, whether cleanup costs are covered by CGL policies is determined by the reasonable expectations of the average layperson unschooled in the law or the insurance field. Therefore, each court must ultimately decide whether the average layperson would understand that the term “damages,” as found in the scope and exclusions clauses of the CGL policies, refers to “legal” as opposed to “equitable” relief. In part, the debate is inspired by the fact that the term “damages” is not defined in these insurance policies. It is important to understand from the outset that the courts denying indemnification for cleanup costs do so on the basis that the legal, technical meaning of the term “damages” excludes equitable relief. The courts that provide indemnification do so on the basis that, notwithstanding the legal definition of “damages,” the average layperson reasonably expects coverage for cleanup costs. This Comment will discuss the distinction between legal and equitable relief only to the extent that a full discussion of the coverage question demands consideration of that distinction. The coverage question as a whole is quite complex, inasmuch as the CGL policies are rife with exclusions, and the relevant environmental statutes are multifaceted. For the purposes of this Comment, it will be assumed that (1) property damage has occurred, (2) the insured is a responsible party, (3) the insured may be compelled to clean up the discharge, and (4) the only issue for determination is whether or not the insured is covered against cleanup costs

Comprehensive General Liability Policies Under Maine\u27s Ground Water Protection Act: The Law Court\u27s Extraordinary Definition of Ordinary Intelligence

In Patrons Oxford Mutual Insurance Co. v. Marios, the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, sitting as the Law Court, joined the current debate in the state and federal judiciaries as to whether comprehensive general liability (CGL) insurance policies obligate the insurer to indemnify the insured for cleanup costs incurred pursuant to governmentally mandated cleanup of hazardous substances. In that decision, the court held that cleanup costs incurred pursuant to court order authorized by the Maine Underground Oil Storage Facilities and Ground Water Protection Act are not covered by such policies. The explicit basis of the court\u27s decision was that the average Maine insured understands that state-mandated cleanup of hazardous spills is a form of equitable relief for which CGL policies provide no coverage. The decision leaves many Maine businesses and individuals uninsured against the risk of liability for cleanup costs, with a resulting negative effect on the manner and speed in which hazardous spills are cleaned up. The Patrons Oxford decision is therefore at odds with a law intended to ensure prompt cleanup of hazardous spills. While this coverage question is supercharged by the growing awareness and concern over environmental policy, the policy debates are ancillary to the question at hand. As the Law Court correctly noted, resolution of this question reduces to a contractual equation and the calculus is quite simple: the court need only apply governing state contract law to the insurance policy at issue. Nevertheless, this Comment will take up the contract issue in its broader national context for two reasons: first, Maine\u27s prevailing principles of insurance contract interpretation are substantially similar to those of every state that has considered this coverage question; second, the language of the special multi-peril liability policy issued to the insureds in the Patrons Oxford case is substantially similar to the language found in standardized, industry-wide CGL policies. Generally, whether cleanup costs are covered by CGL policies is determined by the reasonable expectations of the average layperson unschooled in the law or the insurance field. Therefore, each court must ultimately decide whether the average layperson would understand that the term “damages,” as found in the scope and exclusions clauses of the CGL policies, refers to “legal” as opposed to “equitable” relief. In part, the debate is inspired by the fact that the term “damages” is not defined in these insurance policies. It is important to understand from the outset that the courts denying indemnification for cleanup costs do so on the basis that the legal, technical meaning of the term “damages” excludes equitable relief. The courts that provide indemnification do so on the basis that, notwithstanding the legal definition of “damages,” the average layperson reasonably expects coverage for cleanup costs. This Comment will discuss the distinction between legal and equitable relief only to the extent that a full discussion of the coverage question demands consideration of that distinction. The coverage question as a whole is quite complex, inasmuch as the CGL policies are rife with exclusions, and the relevant environmental statutes are multifaceted. For the purposes of this Comment, it will be assumed that (1) property damage has occurred, (2) the insured is a responsible party, (3) the insured may be compelled to clean up the discharge, and (4) the only issue for determination is whether or not the insured is covered against cleanup costs

Role of confined phonons in thin film superconductivity

We calculate the critical temperature $T_c$ and the superconducting energy gaps $\Delta_n$ of a thin film superconductor system, where $\Delta_n$ is the superconducting energy gap of the $n$-th subband. Since the quantization of both the electron energy and phonon spectrum arises due to dimensional confinement in one direction, the effective electron-electron interaction mediated by the quantized confined phonons is different from that mediated by the bulk phonon, leading to the modification of $T_c$ in the thin film system. We investigate the dependence of $T_c$ and $\Delta_n$ on the film thickness $d$ with this modified interaction.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Trimethylsulfonium Methanesulfonate

In the title compound, C3H9S+.CH3O3S-, a thermal decomposition product of dimethyl sulfoxide, both cation and anion lie on mirror planes. In the cation, the S atom lies 0.792 (2) Å out of the plane defined by the three C atoms, with S-C distances of 1.781 (2) and 1.786 (3) Å. In the anion, the S-O distances are 1.4556 (14) and 1.4646 (19) Å, and the S-C distance is 1.759 (3) Å

Electronic structure of nanoscale iron oxide particles measured by scanning tunneling and photoelectron spectroscopies

We have investigated the electronic structure of nano-sized iron oxide by scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS) as well as by photoelectron spectroscopy. Nano particles were produced by thermal treatment of Ferritin molecules containing a self-assembled core of iron oxide. Depending on the thermal treatment we were able to prepare different phases of iron oxide nanoparticles resembling gamma-Fe2O3, alpha-Fe2O3, and a phase which apparently contains both gamma-Fe2O3 and alpha-Fe2O3. Changes to the electronic structure of these materials were studied under reducing conditions. We show that the surface band gap of the electronic excitation spectrum can differ from that of bulk material and is dominated by surface effects.Comment: REVTeX, 6 pages, 10 figures, submitted to PR

A First-Tier Framework for Assessing Toxicological Risk from Vaporized Cannabis Concentrates

Vaporization is an increasingly prevalent means to consume cannabis, but there is little guidance for manufacturers or regulators to evaluate additive safety. This paper presents a first-tier framework for regulators and cannabis manufacturers without significant toxicological expertise to conduct risk assessments and prioritize additives in cannabis concentrates for acceptance, elimination, or further evaluation. Cannabinoids and contaminants (e.g., solvents, pesticides, etc.) are excluded from this framework because of the complexity involved in their assessment; theirs would not be a first-tier toxicological assessment. Further, several U.S. state regulators have provided guidance for major cannabinoids and contaminants. Toxicological risk assessment of cannabis concentrate additives, like other types of risk assessment, includes hazard assessment, dose–response, exposure assessment, and risk characterization steps. Scarce consumption data has made exposure assessment of cannabis concentrates difficult and variable. Previously unpublished consumption data collected from over 54,000 smart vaporization devices show that 50th and 95th percentile users consume 5 and 57 mg per day on average, respectively. Based on these and published data, we propose assuming 100 mg per day cannabis concentrate consumption for first-tier risk assessment purposes. Herein, we provide regulators, cannabis manufacturers, and consumers a preliminary methodology to evaluate the health risks of cannabis concentrate additives

Composite Metal-hydrogen Electrodes for Metal-Hydrogen Batteries

The purpose of this project is to develop and conduct a feasibility study of metallic thin films (multilayered and alloy composition) produced by advanced sputtering techniques for use as anodes in Ni-metal hydrogen batteries. The anodes could be incorporated in thin film solid state Ni-metal hydrogen batteries that would be deposited as distinct anode, electrolyte and cathode layers in thin film devices. The materials could also be incorporated in secondary consumer batteries (i.e. type AF(4/3 or 4/5)) which use electrodes in the form of tapes. The project was based on pioneering studies of hydrogen uptake by ultra-thin Pd-capped metal-hydrogen ratios exceeding and fast hydrogen charging and Nb films, these studies suggested that materials with those of commercially available metal hydride materials discharging kinetics could be produced. The project initially concentrated on gas phase and electrochemical studies of Pd-capped niobium films in laboratory-scale NiMH cells. This extended the pioneering work to the wet electrochemical environment of NiMH batteries and exploited advanced synchrotron radiation techniques not available during the earlier work to conduct in-situ studies of such materials during hydrogen charging and discharging. Although batteries with fast charging kinetics and hydrogen-metal ratios approaching unity could be fabricated, it was found that oxidation, cracking and corrosion in aqueous solutions made pure Nb films-and multiiayers poor candidates for battery application. The project emphasis shifted to alloy films based on known elemental materials used for NiMH batteries. Although commercial NiMH anode materials contain many metals, it was found that 0.24 µm thick sputtered Zr-Ni films cycled at least 50 times with charging efficiencies exceeding 95% and [H]/[M] ratios of 0.7-1.0. Multilayered or thicker Zr-Ni films could be candidates for a thin film NiMH battery that may have practical applications as an integrated power source for modern electronic devices