This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1903. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property 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.

Industrial operations at this property date back more than eight decades before 1986, and the petroleum hydrocarbons and chlorinated solvents found here — including trichloroethylene — are directly attributed to those long-running manufacturing and foundry activities. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to the successive operators across that pre-1986 window carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law. As the property now faces the costs of designing and executing a cleanup, historical carriers whose policies were in force during the decades of contaminating operations may be obligated to fund that remediation.

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.