Insurer Claims $1M Policy Won’t Cover Pittsburgh Turnpike Goo

The insurer of a trucking company whose tanker leaked sticky black goo onto the Pennsylvania Turnpike in November says in court filings that its $1 million policy likely won’t be enough to cover roughly 1,000 claims for damaged vehicles.

The Travelers Indemnity Co. has deposited $1 million into a bank account overseen by a federal judge in Pittsburgh to satisfy its policy covering MTS Transport. The Steubenville, Ohio company owned the tanker truck that leaked the asphalt flux material over about 40 miles of the eastbound toll road in western Pennsylvania on Nov. 22. The goo damaged tires and, in some cases, the engines and other parts of cars that drove through it.

MTS Transport is suing another insurer, seeking $4 million more to cover the damage.