This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1967. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.

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 here traces to operational practices that accumulated over decades beginning in 1967 — nearly two decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still the standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The gradual, ongoing nature of the release — automotive and equipment fluids from routine heavy-equipment maintenance across a multi-structure industrial yard — is precisely the type of exposure those policies were written to cover. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to Leon's Trucking & Logging during that pre-1986 operational window may bear an obligation to fund the investigation and cleanup costs the property now faces.

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.