This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
The northern parcel of this property formerly housed A-One Ornamental Iron Works, a metalworking and manufacturing operation whose activities left oil-range organics in the northwest corner of the site and halogenated volatile organic compounds — including PCE, TCE, and cis-1,2-DCE — in both soil and groundwater. Remediation consisted of overexcavation of contaminated soil to depths of 6 to 16 feet, with construction dewatering extending to 28 feet, alongside removal of perched contaminated groundwater. Investigation and monitoring activities ran from 2014 through 2016, and Ecology issued a No Further Action determination in 2018. That history could support an insurance cost recovery claim against carriers who issued insurance policies 40+ years ago.
Why Historical Insurance Policies May Be Accessible
Pre-1986 Commercial General Liability (CGL) policies were occurrence-based and did not contain an effective pollution exclusion in Washington. If contamination occurred while those policies were active, those historical insurance carriers may still have a legal obligation to fund the cleanup costs, even if the business closed or the property changed hands.
The contamination at this property — petroleum-range organics and chlorinated degreasing solvents characteristic of metalworking operations — originated from industrial activity that predated 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still lacked an effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The iron works' use of solvents such as PCE and TCE represents exactly the class of slow, ongoing subsurface releases those policies were written to address. Documented cleanup expenditures here — soil excavation to depth, groundwater dewatering, and multi-year investigation and monitoring — are costs that historical carriers whose policies were in force during the iron works' operating years may be obligated to recover.
Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful cost recovery claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage for costs already incurred. Restorical's forensic accounting team works to re-establish and document past cleanup expenditures, ensuring the strongest possible basis for recovery.
Recovering Costs from an Older Cleanup
If this site reached No Further Action years ago, the original cleanup expenditures may be difficult to reconstruct. Restorical's forensic accounting team specializes in re-establishing and documenting past cleanup costs — even decades later — to build the strongest possible basis for an insurance recovery claim.
What We Look For
- Historical insurance policies (pre-1986)
- Policy numbers, carrier names, and coverage periods
- Connection between contamination timing and policy period
- Evidence linking cleanup obligation to insured activity
What We Deliver
- Historical Coverage Chart
- Trigger Analysis & Property/Policy Nexus
- Coverage strategy with recommendations
- Insurance funding for your remediation
- Claims Management & Forensic Accounting
The Restorical Proven Process
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Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
