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Liberty Mutual seeks court ruling to avoid California toxic-site cleanup costs
The carrier says a 1996 settlement and partial buyback largely wiped out coverage tied to the sites, including a $3 million buyback for Mountain View exposure.
Liberty Mutual is asking a federal court to rule that it owes nothing for California toxic-waste cleanup claims tied to policies the insurer issued more than 40 years ago, according to a lawsuit filed in the Northern District of California.
The carrier sued Vishay Intertechnology and Vishay GSI on August 26, 2026, seeking two rulings, that it does not have to defend either company and that it does not have to pay over an environmental demand from California regulators. Liberty says the trigger came around January 9, 2026, when the California Department of Toxic Substances Control named Vishay a Potentially Responsible Party for contamination at three sites in Mountain View, Palo Alto, and the Vine Hill Complex in Martinez.
Liberty says General Instrument Corporation was its customer for the general liability, pollution, and umbrella coverage sold between roughly 1980 and 1997, totaling 23 policies by the complaint’s count. It also details policy limits it argues are modest by today’s standards, including general liability limits that started at $500,000 per occurrence and $1 million in the aggregate and later rose to $2 million, with umbrella coverage at $5 million.
At the center of Liberty’s argument is a June 5, 1996 settlement and partial buyback that, the insurer says, closed out coverage for environmental claims and wiped out almost all historical policies. Liberty says it paid $3 million to buy back the Mountain View exposure, and that the agreement covered “any and all actual or alleged insurance policies,” while it describes the Palo Alto site as an excepted claim.