Case: 23-60087 Document: 73-1 Page: 1 Date Filed: 03/18/2024 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit ____________ FILED March 18, 2024 No. 23-60087 Lyle W. Cayce ____________ Clerk Gold Coast Commodities, Incorporated, Plaintiff—Appellant, versus Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America, Defendant—Appellee. ______________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi USDC No. 3:22-CV-207 ______________________________ Before Smith, Elrod, and Graves, Circuit Judges. James E. Graves, Jr., Circuit Judges: In the world of business, corporations obtain commercial insurance to protect their assets, and commercial insurers customarily include exclusion provisions in their policies. Exclusion provisions dispel the notion that insur- ance coverage is without limits and place the insured on notice about actions or omissions that will trigger an insurer’s denial of coverage. Insurance poli- cies that include pollution exclusion provisions accomplish even more. An insurance policy’s pollution exclusion deters deliberate or negli- gent behavior that leads to environmental harm. When we hold that a Case: 23-60087 Document: 73-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 03/18/2024 No. 23-60087 pollution exclusion excludes the insured from coverage, we protect the in- surer’s right to disincentivize corporations from engaging in bad faith actions with a known environmental impact. This case arises from claims asserted against an insured and, due to a pollution exclusion, those claims fall outside the insurance policy’s reach. Accordingly, we AFFIRM. BACKGROUND Gold Coast Commodities, Inc. (“Gold Coast”) is a business corporation located in Rankin County, Mississippi. Gold Coast converts used cooking oil and vegetable by-products into animal feed ingredients. On June 25, 2016, Gold Coast became insured under Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America (“Travelers”), Policy No. 087-LB-106545829. The Policy period was renewed through June 25, 2019. The co-owners and principals of Gold Coast, Thomas Douglas and Robert Douglas, were insured under the Policy. In July 2018, the City of Brandon filed suit in the Circuit Court of Rankin County against Gold Coast and its principals alleging that Gold Coast dumped “significant amounts of high-temperature, corrosive, low-pH wastewater into the City’s sewer system.” These actions or omissions are alleged to have occurred during the Policy period. The City of Brandon seeks to recover for damages from negligence resulting from the “discharge” or “release” of “pollutants” as the term “pollutants” is defined in the Policy. In June 2021, the City of Jackson filed suit in the Circuit Court of Hinds County against Gold Coast and its principals alleging that Gold Coast dumped “high temperature and corrosive” industrial waste into the City’s sewer system. Likewise, these actions or omissions are alleged to have occurred during the policy period. The City of Jackson seeks to recover for damages from negligence resulting from the “discharge” or “release” . . . of “pollutants” as the term “pollutants” is defined in the Policy.

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