This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1945. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.

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.

Lead, arsenic, and PAH contamination at this property traces directly to shooting operations that began in the mid-1940s — more than four decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The contamination here is not the product of a single accident but of sustained, routine club operations accumulating over decades, exactly the type of long-term release those pre-1986 policies were written to cover. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the club during that operational window may remain obligated to fund both the remediation costs already incurred and the investigation and cleanup expenditures that lie ahead under the Agreed Order.

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.