liberty mutual insurance company et al v. alcoa howmet hampton complaint

8/20/2019 LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY et al v. ALCOA HOWMET HAMPTON complaint

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTDISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT

LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY CIVIL ACTION NO.

a/sb EQUIPOWER RESOURCES CORP. 75 Berkeley Street Boston MA

WESTPORT INSURANCE COMPANY a/sb EQUIPOWER RESOURCES CORP.

75 King Street Armonk, New York

NAVIGATORS INSURANCE COMPANY a/sb EQUIPOWER RESOURCES CORP. SXndicate 1221 at Lloyd’s

Floor No. 2 Minster Court London England

ALLIANZ INSURANCE COMPANY a/sb EQUIPOWER RESOURCES CORP.

Chase Manhattan Plaza 37th Floor New York, NY 10005

AC E AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY a/sb EQUIPOWER RESOURCES CORP. 500 Colonial Center Parkway Roswell, GA

AEGIS INSURANCE SERVICES Meadowlands Plaza

East Rutherford NJ 07073

Plaintiffs,

V.

ALCOA HOWMET HAMPTON SEPTEMBER 24 , 2015 Howmet DriveHampton VA

Defendant.

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Case 3:15-cv-01408-VAB Document 1 Filed 09/24/15 Page 1 of 8


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COMPLAINT

JURISDICTIONAL ALLEGATIONS:

1. Plaintiff, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company is an insurance company

organized under the laws of the State of Massachusetts with i ts principal place of

business at 175 Berkeley Street Boston MA, and brings this action as subrogee of

Equipower Resources Corp

2. Plaintiff, Westport Insurance Company is an insurance company

organized under the laws of the State o f N ew York , w ith its principal place of business

at 17 5 King Street Armonk, NY, and brings this action as subrogee of Equipower

Resources Corp

3. Plaintiff, Navigators Insurance Company is an insurance company

organized in London England with its principal place of business at4th Floor Minster

Court in London England and brings this action as subrogee of Equipower Resources

Corp.

4. Plaintiff, Allianz Insurance Company is an insurance company organized

under the laws of the State of New York, with it s principal place of business at Chase

Manhattan Plaza 37th Floor, New York, NY, and brings this action as subrogee of

Equipower Resources Corp

5. Plaintiff, ACE American Insurance Company is an insurance company

organized under the laws of the State of Georgia with i ts principal place of business at

500 Colonial Center Parkway in Roswell GA, and brings this action as subrogee of

Equipower Resources Corp.

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6. Plaintiff, AEGIS Insurance Services, Inc. is an insurance company

organized under the laws of the State of New Jersey, with its principal place of business

at

Meadowlands Plaza, East Rutherford, NJ, and brings this action as subrogee of

Equipower Resources Corp.

7. Equipower Resources Corp. is a corporation with a principal place of

business at 100 Constitution Place, Hartford, Connecticut.

8. Milford Power Company, LLC, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Equipower

Resources Corp., and legal owner and operator of the Milford Power Plant, located at

55 Shelland Street, Milford, CT .

9. Plaintiff insurance companies, hereinafter referred to as “The Market’

issued a policy of insurance to the insured, Equipower Resources Corp., which included

property damage and other coverage for the Milford Power Plant located at Shelland

Street, Milford, CT .

10 . Defendant, Alcoa Howmet Hampton (hereinafter “Alcoa” , is a Virginia

corporation with a principal place of business at Howmet Drive, in Hampton, VA.

11 . This Court has diversity jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

§ 1332(a) because Plaintiff insurance companies and Defendant Alcoa are citizens of

different states and the amount in controversy exceeds 75,000 exclusive of interest

and costs.

12. Venue is proper in this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(2) because

a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to this claim occurred in this

District.

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CLAIM FOR RELIEF:

13. At all times mentioned herein, the Defendant Alcoa Howmet Hampton

hereinafter “Alcoa”), was engaged in the business of, among other things, casting,

manufacturing and selling Row 4 low pressure turbine blades.

14. At all times mentioned herein, defendant acted by and through its

employees, agents, and subcontractors.

15. O n M arch 29 , 2012 there was a catastrophic failure of an Alstom GT24

Combustion Turbine located at the Milford Power Plant. The catastrophic loss occurred

because a blade cast by defendant Alcoa Howmet Hampton hereafter “Alcoa”) failed.

16. The subject combustion turbine is identified as Unit 21 with in the Milford

Power Plant.

17. The combustion turbine utilizes the turbine blades to convert thermal

energy and pressure produced by burning of fossil fuels into mechanical energy that is

utilized for the generation of electricity. The electricity produced is the “product” of

Equipower Resources.

18. O n M arch 29 , 2012 Ro w 4 low pressure turbine blade 80, manufactured

by Alcoa and identified by the Serial No. UMK6879L, “cracked, fractured and liberated”

from its position and caused a catastrophic failure of the entire low pressure turbine

resulting in substantial property damage and a significant power outage at the plant.

19. The failure was caused by the liberation of a Ro w 4 low pressure turbine

blade that liberated due to a crack in the blade caused by casting porosity defects which

were internal to the blade and existed at the time it was casted and sold by defendant

Alcoa4

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20. The liberated blade caused damage to downstream blades, vanes, heat

shields and exhaust housing within combustion turbine 21.

21 . The fractured liberated blade isidentified as

blade 80.

22 . Investigation by ALSTOM and an independent third party after the failure

has revealed that a network of intergranular porosity was present in blade 80.

23 . The intergranular porosity caused cracking at the trailing end of blade 80,

which ultimately caused the liberation of blade 80.

24 . A large oxidized crack formed and propagated at the lower trailing edge of

the blade air foil eventually leading to a fracture of the remainder of the blade.

25 . The cracks which caused the liberation of the blade propagated from the

porosity and led to the catastrophic failure

26 . The defects in the blade described above were not seen by Alcoa in its

quality control inspections before the blade left the possession of Alcoa.

27 . Alcoa negligently failed to discover the existence of the aforementioned

casting porosity defects before it placed the blade in the stream of commerce.

28 . Casting porosity defects of the type in blade 80 can be identified by non

destructive examinations such as x ray and ultrasonic inspections and should have

been discovered by Alcoa.

29 . Blade 80 was one of a set of blades manufactured by Defendant.

30. At all times mentioned herein, the set of blades was used by Equipower

for the purpose for which it had been designed, produced, manufactured, tested and

sold; and was used in a manner intended and foreseeable to the defendant.

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31 . Defendant is legally responsible to Equipower and The arket for the

property damage sustained as a result of the defective manufacture of blade 80,

pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes§

52-572m et seq. in ways including, but not

limited to:

a) manufacturing a blade that was defective and unreasonably

d a ngero us ;

b manufacturing a blade that contained a casting defect of extensive

porosity internal to the blade;

c failing to properly inspect the blade before was sold;

d failing to take appropriate steps to discover the defects before the

blade was shipped;

e) failing to conduct appropriate x-ray and/or ultrasonic examinations

of the blade to discover the porosity referred to above;

f failing to warn the plaintiff of the defective condition of the blade.

32 . The defects described above existed within the subject blade when was

put into the stream of commerce by Defendant.

33. As a result of the Defendant’s breach of the Connecticut Products Liability

Statute as herein above, alleged, Equipower’s property sustained extensive damage.

34. Pursuant to the terms of their insurance contracts with Equipower, The

arket has made payments to Equipower for the damages caused by the failure which

occurred on arch 29 , 2012.

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35. To the extent of any payments made by The Market to Equipower, and

pursuant to the policies of insurance and by matter of law, The Market is subrogated to

the rights of Equipower Resources Corp.

WHEREFORE, the plaintiffs, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company a/sb Equipower

Resources Corp., Westport Insurance Company a/sb Equipower Resources Corp

Navigators Insurance Company a/sb Equipower Resources Corp Allianz Insurance

Company a/sb Equipower Resources Corp., Ace American Insurance Company a/sb

Equipower Resources Corp. and Aegis Insurance Services a/sb Equipower Resources

Corp., pray for the following relief:

1. Compensatory damages;

2. Costs; and

3. Such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper.

Dated at Hartford, Connecticut this 4th

day of September 2015.

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PLAINTIFFS,LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCECOMPANY A/S/O EQUIPOWERRESOURCES CORP., WESTPORTINSURANCE COMPANY A S OEQUIPOWER RESOURCES CORP.,NAVIGATORS INSURANCECOMPANY A/S/O EQUIPOWERRESOURCES CORP., ALLIANZINSURANCE COMPANY A S OEQUIPOWER RESOURCES CORP.,AC E AMERICAN INSURANCECOMPANY A/S/O EQUIPOWERRESOURCES CORP. AND AEGISINSURANCE SERVICES NS/OEQUIPOWER RESOOURCES CORP.

Daniel P. Scapellati ofHALLORAN SAGE LLP225 Asylum StreetHartford, CT 06703Fed. Bar ct 03855Phone: 860 297-4622Fax: 860-548-0006S Ca pe llati@ hallo ra nsage co mIts Afforneys

Of Counsel:

Samuel J. Pace, Jr., Esq.Stephen M. Winning, Esq.Dugan Brinkmann Maginnis Pace7880 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 1400Philadelphia, PA 19103s i a c e c d bmplaw cornswinninq 1dbmpIaw.comPhone: 215-563-3500Fax: 215-563-5610

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)Rix fNiO 548-0006

Hartfrd, OCOO1 AG E iL i Jtiri No. 26 05


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