This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1945. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations 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.

Asphalt manufacturing and bulk fuel storage at this property began roughly four decades before 1986, and the presence of PCBs — banned in 1979 — confirms that contamination originated from operations well within the pre-1986 window when occurrence-based CGL policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. Site inspections by Metro and Ecology in 1984 and 1985 documented conditions tied directly to those decades of industrial use. The documented remediation expenditures — sediment dredging, a backfill cap, UST removals, long-term monitoring, and planned future soil and sediment removal — represent costs that historical carriers who issued policies during the manufacturing era may be obligated both to recover and to fund going forward.

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.