Background
Rodney J. Taylor writes on
environmental risk management
for IRMI.com.
Mr. Taylor is a managing director of Aon's Environmental Group. Aon Environmental
is responsible for working with the Aon offices around the world to assist their
clients in managing their environmental exposures.
In July 2006, the Aon Environmental Group acquired Breitstone & Co. Ltd.
Mr. Taylor was the managing director of Breitstone & Co. Ltd., a specialized
consulting firm providing assistance to parties engaged in complex transactions
involving construction, environmental, and energy-related risks. Breitstone
& Co. Ltd was in existence for over 50 years, with offices in New York and California.
The firm worked with buyers and sellers of known or suspected contaminated properties,
developers employed to construct capital on these properties, and contractors
performing remediation services to provide insurance coverage that address environmental
exposures. The firm also assisted lenders making financing available for the
purchase, cleanup, and development of contaminated sites, and lawyers representing
the various parties to these transactions. Overall, Breitstone & Co. Ltd. developed
insurance and risk management solutions for the complicated environmental problems
associated with real estate and development transactions.
Mr. Taylor's work in the area of environmental risk management began when
he founded the environmental risk management practice group for Sedgwick, Inc.,
an international insurance broker, in 1981; he has been active in the environmental
area ever since. His most recent position in the insurance brokerage industry
was as the managing director of the Willis Environmental Practice, headquartered
in New York City and Nashville, Tennessee. He was responsible for the activities
of more than 40 environmental specialists and brokers placing coverage on behalf
of clients in North America. Some of the environmental insurance products which
he has helped to pioneer include: owner-controlled and contractor-controlled
(wrap-up) insurance programs for Superfund, Department of Energy, and Department
of Defense remediation projects; integrated insurance and funding products to
insure cost overruns, the efficacy of the remediation processes, and other environmental
risks associated with site cleanups; and insurance to offset or remove environmental
liabilities on corporate balance sheets. He has also worked extensively with
owners and operators of hazardous and non-hazardous landfills and with military
installations being converted to public, industrial and commercial uses.
Mr. Taylor is a graduate of the University of Maryland with a B.S. degree
in engineering, and he is a Registered Professional Engineer. He also received
a juris doctor degree (graduating cum laude) from the Brigham Young University
School of Law and is admitted to the Illinois State Bar. He holds the Charter
Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), the Charter Life Underwriter (CLU),
and the Associate in Risk Management (ARM) professional insurance designations.
Mr. Taylor has written numerous articles on environmental insurance and risk
management topics and is a frequent speaker at conferences and educational programs
on environmental topics.
Pete Pantalone is a director in the
Environmental Services Group of Aon Risk Solutions. He is responsible for
working with Aon clients around the world to assist in managing their
environmental risk. Mr. Pantalone works directly with clients to analyze
their historic and operational environmental exposures, structuring suitable
environmental insurance programs, and negotiating directly with underwriters
to obtain the necessary terms and conditions to meet the client's risk
objectives. He has more than 15 years’ experience in the environmental
insurance industry. Prior to entering the insurance industry, Mr. Pantalone
worked as an environmental consultant leading many different remediation
projects. He has his CPCU designation, is a licensed broker, and is a
graduate of Villanova University with a degree in civil engineering.