and public awareness, experts are imploring insurers and brokers to work to understand all the risks involved. While many contaminants are measured by parts per million or parts per billion, PFAS are being regulated at the parts-per-trillion level. “If you closed a big specialty chemical site 10 years ago, you couldn’t have tested for that,” Smith says. “Now, that same property may be redeveloped into a multi-use residential zone, and there’s a potential there may be a reopener for that.” David Brereton, vice president of environmental impairment liability insurance at Denver-based program manager Freberg Environmental, agrees that there’s a heightened risk for potentially large claims resulting from PFAS. “Manufacturers and distributors of products containing PFAS are likely the most significant targets at this point,” he says, “but there’s exposure associated with disposal sites, wastewater treatment operations and poten-
“People are becoming more aware of emerging contaminants like PFAS, and with social inflation, they are looking to hold someone accountable” Toby Smith, Ironshore Environmental tial legacy environmental liabilities associated with certain former industrial sites.” Brereton adds that it’s important to look at all areas of the supply chain and the history of a site because pre-existing issues can have just as big of an impact as new ones. Legacy contamination can trigger policies for pollutants not previously detected that may be discovered during a future voluntary sampling or during development. Brereton expects there to be a continued pullback in the pollution insurance market with regard to sites and products with past
and present PFAS exposures. In addition, potential insureds will be asked more questions about their use of and history with these chemicals, as the more information insurers have, the more equipped they’ll be to insure against the risk.
Not going away What’s most dangerous about PFAS, according to Smith, is their long-lasting environmental impact. Whereas fossil fuels can be fully cleaned up and natural resources can be restored to their original condition, PFAS
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