This property has a documented history as a farm and agricultural operation predating 1986. 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.

The fumigant contamination documented here — 1,2-Dichloropropane and 1,2,3-Trichloropropane from an agricultural cooperative's storage and rinsate operations — reflects releases that the 1997 Remedial Investigation found to be widespread and persistent, strongly indicating the contamination originated during the pre-1986 period when occurrence-based CGL policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. A cleanup covenant extending through 2025, combined with decades of vapor extraction, groundwater treatment, and engineered containment, represents substantial ongoing liability traceable to those historical operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the pre-1986 operational window may remain obligated to fund both the costs already incurred and the monitoring expenditures still accumulating.

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.