Delaware Refinery Owners Win Insurance Lawsuit

A Delaware judge has ruled for owners of the Delaware City oil refinery in lawsuit over insurance coverage involving the deaths of two workers who suffocated inside a tank.

The judge granted summary judgment this week to Premcor Refinery Group, which sued various contractors and their insurance carriers following the refinery’s settlement of wrongful death lawsuits.

Specifically, the judge said Maryland Casualty Insurance Company had a duty to indemnify Premcor for settlements with the families of 29-year-old John Ferguson and 57-year-old John Lattanzi. The two men died in 2005 after Ferguson tried to retrieve a roll of duct tape from inside the tank.

Maryland Casualty provided insurance for Pro-Tech Engineering, which was hired by Premcor as a contract administrator overseeing Matrix Service Company, for which the two men worked.