This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1962. 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.

Chemical manufacturing operations at this site began in 1962 — more than two decades before 1986 — when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The contamination documented here in 1989 and 1994 traces directly to those pre-1986 decades of organic chemical production and the handling of toluene and associated industrial hazardous substances. The site's remediation record — vapor extraction infrastructure, groundwater recovery systems, multi-year excavation campaigns, and ongoing institutional controls — represents cleanup expenditures that historical CGL carriers whose policies were in force during those operational years 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.