This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1940. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.

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 TCE contamination at this site originated from military-industrial operations that ran for more than two decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. Documented remediation expenditures — including over $150,000 in site characterization and sampling, past oversight costs, and the substantial infrastructure work of wellfield rehabilitation and replacement — were incurred to address releases tied directly to those pre-1986 operations. With cleanup still ongoing, historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the base's operational window may be obligated both to recover past costs and to fund future response work.

Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful coverage claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage. Restorical then manages the claim, including accounting, to ensure the cleanup is funded in a timely manner.