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Holding: The owner of a dry dock that collapsed, spilling barrels of oil into a harbor, has no insurance claim under a policy covering property damage from pollutants.

Takeaway:Environmental attorneys say the decision could lead to anomalous results at odds with public policy.

According to Anderson Kill's John G. Nevius:

The court “missed the boat in terms of basic public policy”

“They're encouraging the containers to be left where they are so that they will deteriorate until there will be leakage of pollutants”

“The majority missed the forest for the trees and completely ignored the reasonable expectations of the insured as well as the language of the policy and the overall purpose of insurance”