Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/584904
THE DATA CENTER JOURNAL | 21 www.datacenterjournal.com hydraulic lis. Data center operators that convert the older buildings may encounter environmental contamination or historic fill when installing underground fiber- optic cables or new piping for heating and cooling. ere is also the potential to discover unknown soil, soil vapor and groundwater contamination from former on-site gasoline stations and dry cleaners. avaiLaBLe soLuTions To The environMenTaL chaLLenges As property managers and REITs continue to build and acquire data center properties, they may continue to treat this sector of the industry as one with lower risks for third-party exposures or property damage. As noted, however, impacts to the surrounding environment can result from improper management of hazardous materials used to cool computer servers or provide uninterrupted power supplies. For more traditional and larger data centers located in rural areas, the release of hazardous materials has the potential to adversely impact soils, nearby surface water bodies and possibly groundwa- ter supplies. Heavy metals in computer equipment and other hazardous materi- als involved in a fire can create toxic air emissions or contaminated firefighting water runoff. e impacts of a hazardous- material release from fires in smaller data center buildings in urban settings present a greater risk of third-party pollution claims involving property damage, bodily injury and business interruption because of higher population densities. Environ- mental remediation and legal-defense expenses associated with these kinds of pollution events can cost companies millions of dollars. A six-figure clean up expense is not uncommon. To minimize the potential impact of costly pollution cleanup and legal defense, a growing number of businesses across industries, including data centers, rely on environmental insurance. As many general liability policies exclude pollution incidents, savvy risk managers purchase standalone insurance coverage to address pollution conditions caused by sudden or accidental releases of chemicals and haz- ardous materials. Insurance policies can also be structured to respond to historical unknown pollution conditions that de- velop over time. An unexpected environ- mental issue for a data center renovating a formerly used site for its operations can be the difference between a profitable startup and a devastating blow to the bottom line. Environmental insurance policies can also address third-party claims or legal allegations. All the data that we are exponen- tially creating and collecting has to be stored somewhere. In the rush to meet the demand, the data management industry must ensure that while we protect our data, we also protect our environment— and help our construction, technology and real-estate clients involved in data center construction and management minimize their environmental liabilities. n about the author: Gregg Shields is Vice President of Risk Consulting for XL Catlin's environmental-insurance business. He can be reached at gregg.shields@xlcatlin.com. ConFerenCe Keynote: Big Data and the Internet of Things: Boon or Bust for Your Cybersecurity Efforts? theresa payton Former White House CIO, Cybersecurity Authority, Expert on Identity Theft and the Internet of Things 2015 Fall ConFerenCe End-To-End REliabiliTy: Mission CRiTiCal FaCiliTiEs Commitment to exCellenCe Save the date November 15-18, 2015 JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country, San Antonio, TX M A R Q U I S P L U S + PA R T N E R S G O L D PA R T N E R S S I LV E R PA R T N E R S 2 0 1 5 F a l l C o n F e r e n C e C o r p o r at e l e a d e r s h i p p r o g r a m pa r t n e r s (at press time) www.7x24exchange.org M E D I A PA R T N E R S 15Fall DCJ_STD_8375w525_3fx_DCJ Half page ad 8/31/15 3:38 PM Page 1