This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1929. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
This Seattle property has operated under a succession of industrial uses spanning nearly a century — a gasoline service station from 1929 to 1937, followed by slug bait packaging and warehousing beginning in 1960, multiple vessel manufacture and repair operations, scrap metal sorting and handling, and a log transfer operation, with industrial activity continuing through at least 2015. Remediation to date includes the removal of seven underground storage tanks totaling 31,600 gallons in 2017 and 2018, and extensive soil excavation across 15 discrete areas of the property in 2018. A Remedial Investigation, Feasibility Study, and Cleanup Action Plan are currently in progress under Ecology's Standard Cleanup program, with quarterly oversight costs ongoing. 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.
Contamination at this property is attributed to decades of industrial operations — including petroleum storage tanks whose installation predates 1986 and diversified manufacturing and handling activities that ran through the pre-1986 window. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies issued to the site's various operators during that era carried no effective pollution exclusion and remain potentially enforceable against historical carriers. The documented remediation work — seven UST removals, excavation across 15 areas, and a multi-phase regulatory investigation still accumulating costs — represents the kind of long-running, multi-operator liability that pre-1986 CGL coverage was written to address, both for expenditures already made and those yet to come.
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.
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.
