C.A. 1st;
A140656

The First Appellate District affirmed a judgment. The court held that where claims of “ordinary, common law negligence” were “inseparably intertwined” with claims arising from the performance of professional services, a policy exclusion for professional services barred coverage.

Kinder Morgan, Inc. hired two temporary workers from Comforce Corporation to serve as inspectors on a water supply line project in Walnut Creek. Kinder Morgan also had one of its own employees working as a “line ride” on the project. The line rider's responsibilities include pipeline identification. During excavation for the water line, an excavator struck a high pressure petroleum line owned by Kinder Morgan. The resulting explosion and fire killed five employees, seriously injured four others, and caused extensive property damage. Numerous wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits were filed against several defendants, including Kinder Morgan and Comforce. The lawsuits largely alleged that the pipeline rupture was caused by defendants' negligence in failing to identify and mark the location of the Kinder Morgan pipeline. Kinder Morgan sought coverage for the lawsuits under Associated Electric & Gas Insurance Services Limited (AEGIS) and Energy Insurance Mutual Limited (EIM) excess commercial comprehensive general liability (CGL) policies, and under Comforce's primary and umbrella CGL policies with ACE American Insurance Company. After settling the lawsuits against Kinder Morgan, EIM sought to recover its defense costs and settlement payments from ACE.