Insurance
Home›Insurance›Industry & Deals›CNA insurers seek to end PFAS defense coverage for Sta…
CNA insurers seek to end PFAS defense coverage for Standard Textile
The insurers filed a declaratory-judgment suit in Ohio targeting whether primary CGL policies and a limited pollution endorsement apply to PFAS claims tied to Santee Cooper’s allegations.
Four CNA insurers have asked a U.S. court to declare they have no duty to defend or indemnify Standard Textile Carolina, Inc. in a PFAS case, according to Insurance Business.
On July 24, 2026, National Fire Insurance Company of Hartford, Valley Forge Insurance Company, Continental Casualty Company, and The Continental Insurance Company filed a declaratory-judgment complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
The insurers are seeking a ruling tied to a separate South Carolina lawsuit brought by water agency Santee Cooper. Santee Cooper alleges Standard Textile Carolina and other defendants it identified as “Discharger Defendants” discharged PFAS-containing wastewater to a public treatment plant that cannot remove the chemicals, with the water then reaching Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie, where the agency draws water for treatment and distribution.
In their filing, the CNA insurers argue primary commercial general liability policies include an “absolute pollution exclusion” and that PFAS qualify as “pollutants” under the policies’ definitions. They also say a “Limited Pollution Coverage Endorsement” cannot apply because, among other conditions, the incident must be “accidental,” must occur “entirely above-ground,” and must be demonstrable as starting and ending within seven days, which they contend is not met by a prolonged discharge routed through a public treatment plant.