This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1948. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has been in continuous industrial use since at least 1948, when a Sanborn Map recorded a gas tank and coal storage yard on site, and later housed Globe Ticket and Label — a manufacturing operation that used methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) in a dedicated chemical storage room and operated a 3,000-gallon heating oil underground storage tank to fuel an on-site boiler. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program ran from 1995 to 2006 and included removal of that UST and approximately 23.5 tons of stained soil adjacent to the former chemical storage area. The site has since received No Further Action status and is currently occupied by a mattress assembly manufacturer. 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.
Industrial operations at this property trace back to at least 1948 — nearly four decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The contamination addressed here — petroleum hydrocarbons from the heating oil UST and MEK from the chemical storage room — arose directly from those long-running pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to Globe Ticket and Label or prior occupants during that operational window may still be obligated to recover the documented cleanup costs incurred under the VCP.
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.
