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buildings One and Two, 7WTC itself collapsed. In marked contrast to the collapse of the
Twin Towers, the collapse of 7WTC resulted in no loss of life. But there was substantial
damage to property, giving rise to the set of lawsuits with which I now deal.
The Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. ("Con Ed")
operated a substation beneath 7WTC which the fires and building collapse heavily
damaged. Nine transformers and considerable ancillary equipment housed in the
substation were destroyed by the fire and the building collapse. Con Ed's insurers--
Aegis Insurance Services, Inc., Liberty Insurance Underwriters, Inc., National Union
Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited, and Underwriters
at Lloyds--reimbursed Con Ed for the damage it incurred, and became subrogated to and
assignees of Con Ed to the extent of their reimbursement.
The insurers subrogated to Con Ed's claim allege that the negligence and
fault of others involved with 7WTC proximately caused the collapse of the building and
the consequent destruction of Con Ed's substation and, by this suit, seek damages to
recover the sums they paid to, and incurred in defense of, Con Ed. Principally, plaintiffs
claim that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (the "Port Authority"), the
owner of the property, and 7 World Trade Company, the owner and manager of 7WTC,
permitted Salomon Brothers, Inc. (since acquired by defendant Citigroup) and the City of
New York to build and maintain large tanks of diesel fuel in their leased premises in
7WTC, and emergency generation systems powered by those fuel tanks, and that the
tanks and generation systems caused the fires to grow out of control and consume the
building. Plaintiffs claim also that the contractors, engineers and architects who designed
and built 7WTC for the Port Authority and the leased premises for Salomon and the City,
