This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1978. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has operated as an asphalt batch plant since at least 1978, with operations centered on producing hot-mix asphalt concrete and storing petroleum products in aboveground storage tanks. Petroleum contamination in the AST area and bag house area was addressed through two phases of soil excavation — 180 tons from the AST zone and 230 cubic yards from the bag house area — with material disposed at a licensed landfill or reused in hot-mix asphalt production. Remediation also included relocation of a 12,000-gallon aboveground storage tank, excavation backfill, installation of six groundwater monitoring wells, and a two-year quarterly groundwater monitoring program. The site has achieved No Further Action status under the Voluntary Cleanup Program. 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 petroleum contamination at this asphalt plant originated from aboveground storage tank operations documented as far back as 1978 — years before the 1986 threshold at which occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies began routinely excluding pollution claims. Slow, soil-permeating releases from AST operations of this type are precisely the class of release those pre-1986 policies were written to cover. The documented remediation expenditures — dual-phase soil excavation, tank relocation, six monitoring wells, and a two-year monitoring program — represent costs that may be recoverable from historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the facility's pre-1986 operational period.
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.
