Croman Corporation — Coverage Litigation

Dwain Clifford represents Croman Corporation, a company that owns a fleet of large Sikorsky S-61 helicopters used in aerial logging and firefighting throughout the Pacific Northwest in the United States.

Croman had purchased pollution coverage from Navigators Specialty Insurance Company to insure against the risk of a spill from one of Croman’s refuelling trucks used during remote logging and firefighting operations. After just such a spill in August 2019, Navigators denied coverage under an interpretation of its policy that would exclude any of Croman’s helicopter logging and firefighting operations, rendering its coverage wholly illusory.

Croman prevailed on the coverage issue after the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment. The court found, in affirming Oregon law’s longstanding rule interpreting ambiguities in favor of insureds, that “logging and firefighting operations performed on the ground,” in the context of Croman’s operations and its application, include the risk of spills of aviation fuel from the refuelling trucks.