Damage from Silica-Containing Construction Dust Excluded from Coverage, 8th Cir. Affirms

ST. LOUIS — A federal appellate panel has affirmed that an insurer does not have to indemnify a contractor for damage caused by construction dust containing silica because the losses fall within the policy’s exclusions for “silica or silica-related dust.”

In a May 18 opinion, the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed that there is no question of fact as to whether the dust contained silica and that the exclusions for silica-related cleanup and property damage apply.

MNDKK LLC hired Dingmann Brothers Construction to install a garage door in its building. Dingmann’s subcontractor dry cut the wall without using …