( September 15, 2026, 10:40 AM EDT) -- XE "Environmental Contamination" SEATTLE — An excess insurer has a duty to defend its insured in an underlying environmental contamination lawsuit because a 2016 order issued by a state court in a similar suit involving many of the same parties does not have preclusive effect and cannot be applied to excuse the insurer from its duty to defend, the insured says in a motion for partial summary judgment filed in Washington federal court....