Industry-Specific Environmental Services
Published: 12-Apr- 2007 | Comments: 0  
Marsh serves virtually all industries with specific solutions to their environmental solutions. Some of the industries for which Marsh provides specific solutions are described below:
Real Estate
Environmental regulatory agencies have fined or penalized real estate entities for everything from sediment erosion to natural resource damages to fines for not reporting spills of heating oil. Toxic tort claims have been made against real estate entities for mold exposures that ran into the millions of dollars. Even "green" building owners need to ensure that their environmental risk management protocols address the risks that may occur as a result of the use of new, untested materials in energy efficient buildings. Whether these protocols are for one site or portfolios of sites - Marsh's environmental professionals have access to various benchmarking, coverage gap analysis and sector specific tools to ensure that our real estate clients get the best information available in order to make an informed decision about their environmental risk management strategy.
Chemical
Chemical manufacturers handle significant volumes of potentially polluting substances every day and have clear and compelling reasons to consider environmental risk as part of their risk management strategy. Some of the major environmental risks that chemical manufacturers, warehousers and distributors must take into account are the following:
Operational exposures that result in the discovery of pollution conditions at chemical sites;
Toxic Tort exposures from third parties for property damage or bodily injury stemming from chemical sites;
Legacy exposures as a result of divestitures, acquisitions, plant closings or company restructuring;
Regulatory exposures as a result of changes in environmental laws requiring responses to pollution condition.
Environmental liabilities bring a significant amount of financial risk to any company, but in particular chemical companies, because they are so difficult to predict and quantify. Marsh's environmental professionals have access to various benchmarking, coverage gap analysis and sector specific tools to ensure that our chemical clients get the best of the information available in order to make an informed decision about their environmental risk management strategy.
Contractors and Consultants
A contractor working on what he thinks is a clean piece of property suddenly encounters unwanted pollutants in buried drums. An owner, contractor and subcontractor are fined thousands of dollars for surface water discharges to protected wetlands during construction activities. Construction projects can be seriously derailed as a result of environmental issues - not only from spills as a result of substances brought onto a worksite - but also from activities such as demolition, discovering unknown contaminants or exacerbating an already "known" pollution condition. Contractors are often under the impression that their general liability policies will provide the environmental protection that they need - when - in fact - general liability policies typically exclude pollution releases if they are the result of materials a contractor brings onto a worksite. Pollution incidents can result in construction delays, fines and penalties, shutting down projects or, in the worst scenario, third party bodily injury or property damage claims. Marsh's environmental professionals have access to various benchmarking, coverage gap analysis and sector specific tools to ensure that our construction clients get the best of the information available in order to make an informed decision about their environmental risk management strategy.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing facilities face numerous exposures - from supply chains, through various operational activities and finally as a result of disposal activities at "Non-owned Disposal sites" (NODs). In addition, because of global economic activity, many manufacturers are regularly acquiring or divesting facilities and closing plants which are then re-used for other types of activities (ex. commercial or residential property development). In today's environment - with a greater awareness of environmental risk issues - manufacturers cannot operate without a clear environmental risk management process. The need to address the financial impacts of regulatory compliance, personal liability for directors and officers, unexpected costs during transactions and the impact of environmental issues during ongoing operations has never been more critical to the financial strength of manufacturing entities. Marsh's environmental professionals have access to various benchmarking, coverage gap analysis and sector specific tools to ensure that our manufacturing clients get the best of the information available in order to make an informed decision about their environmental risk management strategy.
Automotive Industry
The increasing complexity of global environmental regulations has placed new expectations on the automotive industry to combine economic profitability with environmental sustainability. Under tightened scrutiny, automotive companies are managing both operational and legacy environmental risks using different tools within the environmental insurance market. The most prevalent trend affecting environmental risk management has been the divestiture of surplus properties and the expansion of the industry into regions which are enacting stricter and stricter environmental regulations. Marsh's environmental professionals have access to various benchmarking, coverage gap analysis and sector specific tools to ensure that our automotive clients get the best of the information available in order to make an informed decision about their environmental risk management strategy.
Health Care Industry
Within the last ten years, hospitals and other health care facilities have been under increased scrutiny from environmental regulators as a result of the various operations that take place at their facilities. Although all industries are exposed to some degree of pollution risk - healthcare facilities are particularly vulnerable for two primary reasons:
1) Their population (i.e. people who may be more affected by environmental factors because of suppressed immune systems); and
2) The fact that these entities have paid out millions of $$ in damages resulting from improper waste management or disposal and subsequent clean up.
Hospital exposures can result in adverse environmental impacts to air (indoor and outdoor), land and water. These exposures can stall a healthcare facilities operations, harm its reputation and damage its balance sheet and competitiveness. Marsh's environmental professionals have access to various benchmarking, coverage gap analysis and sector specific tools to ensure that our health care clients get the best of the information "out there" in order to make an informed decision about their environmental risk management strategy.
Contractors & Consultants
Contractors are often under the impression that their general liability policies will provide the environmental protection that they need - when - in fact - general liability policies typically exclude pollution releases if they are the result of materials a contractor brings onto a worksite. Pollution incidents can result in construction delays, fines and penalties, shutting projects down or, in the worst scenario, third party bodily injury or property damage claims. Marsh's environmental professionals have access to various benchmarking, coverage gap analysis and sector specific tools to ensure that our contractor and consultant clients get the best information available in order to make an informed decision about their environmental risk management strategy.
Energy
The energy industry has never been more central on the world stage. Shifts of ownership, wealth, risk and commodity pricing are being driven by the imbalance between global supply and demand. Amidst this turbulent environment - new energy sources and opportunities are emerging. The Marsh Energy practice, in conjunction with the environmental practice is poised to assist our energy clients with the sophisticated environmental risk management solutions that are required whether it is from an upstream energy or downstream energy perspective.
Waste Industry
One of the reasons that environmental insurance products were developed was to help companies comply with financial assurance requirements under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). This act mandated that companies use approved financial assurance mechanisms (insurance being one of them in most states) to finance cleanup, restoration and third party obligations in the event that those companies created a pollution condition which adversely affect the environment. Marsh was one of the leaders in the development of these financial assurance products and continues to be at the forefront of the financial assurance arena for our waste industry clients. Whether it is determining what the actual requirements on a state by state basis are or what the exact "wording of the instruments" should be in order to comply with the federal or state regulations - Marsh's environmental professionals have the best information available in order to help our waste industry clients make informed decisions about their environmental risk management options and strategies.
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