Article ID: ad5f140139f8b9168614d32dea6582dc47b7dede203996ea7976e082017fd761
Source ID: secondary:businessinsurance.com
Published At: -
Extraction Method: bs4_heuristic
Body Text
Parents win coverage fight over son’s death from “Ethanol Extraction” - Business Insurance Skip to content Register for free Search Search Log In Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Parents win coverage fight over son’s death from “Ethanol Extraction” by Richard Sine Claims Disputes , Pollution Jun 29, 2026 The parents of a Massachusetts man who died after drinking a product called “Ethanol Extraction” have won a round in their fight to access insurance coverage, after Indiana’s Court of Appeals ruled the insurer wrongly classified their son’s death as a pollution claim to limit its payout. In 2018, Timothy Parsons died after drinking a product labeled as 190-proof grain alcohol but actually contained high levels of toxic methanol. The product was made by Glycerin Traders and marketed by its affiliate, Lake Michigan Distilling Company, both based in LaPorte, Indiana. The case is Parsons v. Crum & Forster Specialty Insurance Company . The methanol contamination traced back to a 2016 shipment of roughly 6,500 gallons of denatured alcohol that Glycerin Traders’ owner, Dennis Zeedyk, purchased from a middleman, according to the ruling. That supplier had sourced the alcohol from a cargo barge cleaning company, which had combined leftover industrial alcohol from multiple shipments into large holding containers. The resulting mixture had a pungent odor and a slight yellow tint. Without testing the mixture, Mr. Zeedyk distilled it multiple times to remove the smell and color, then bottled and sold it as safe for human consumption, the ruling said. “A subsequent investigation determined several purchasers of Ethanol Extraction had died or been seriously injured after ingesting it,” according to the ruling by Judge Elizabeth DeBoer. Insurer Crum & Forster had paid out claims from those three earlier deaths and injuries under a third-party pollution liability policy rather than the broader commercial general liability policy. By the time the Parsons family sued, the pollution-coverage limits were exhausted, and Crum & Forster argued a policy provision barred any general liability payout once pollution liability coverage applied to the same “pollution condition.” A LaPorte Superior Court judge sided with the insurer, but the court of appeals on June 22 reversed that decision. Judge DeBoer noted that because the policy’s definition of pollutant doesn’t clearly include methanol, the term remained ambiguous, and under longstanding Indiana Supreme Court precedent, ambiguous exclusions must be read in the policyholder’s favor. The judge also found that methanol could not be considered a pollutant for pollution liability coverage because it never escaped a contained state during manufacturing. “In sum, no part of the manufacture or sale of Ethanol Extraction involved the discharge, release, etc. of methanol,” the judge wrote. “Methanol was present in the finished product not because an otherwise pure batch of ethanol was contaminated, but because Zeedyk mislabeled industrial alcohol as safe for human consumption.” The court determined Indiana law, not Massachusetts law, governs the policy’s interpretation, since the companies were based and operated in LaPorte. The ruling sends the case back to the trial court with instructions to grant the Parsons family’s request for a declaration that general liability coverage applies, potentially reopening insurance proceeds for their wrongful death claim. In 2024, Mr. Zeedyk was sentenced to 48 months in prison after pleading guilty to mail fraud and tax fraud in connection with Ethanol Extraction. More than 1,200 customers had brought the product, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Related News July property reinsurance renewals to continue softening: Guy Carpenter June 29, 2026 DOJ closes criminal probe into Abbott over baby formula plant: WSJ June 29, 2026 Venezuela quake losses in billions, but claims limited: Aon June 29, 2026 London marine market softens June 29, 2026 Japanese insurers buoyed by overseas earnings: Fitch Ratings June 29, 2026 Swatch sues Samsung for $170M claiming trademark infringement June 29, 2026 Storms force 120 flight cancellations, halt manufacturing June 29, 2026 Deadly heatwave strains infrastructure June 29, 2026 Syrian Aviation returns to Lloyd’s after 15 years June 29, 2026 Facebook-f X-twitter Linkedin-in Business Insurance is a singular, authoritative news and information source for executives focused upon risk management, risk transfer and risk financing. Never miss important news: Become a Business Insurance Online subscriber today Subscribe Now Information About Us Contact Advertise Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions Copyright 2026. BUSINESS INSURANCE HOLDINGS Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
Metadata (JSON)
{
"score": 16.55
}