This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility 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.

Arsenic contamination at this site traces to the storage of chemically treated telephone poles during operations that predate 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The documented remediation expenditures — petroleum cleanup, over a decade of groundwater monitoring, and the unresolved arsenic plume — represent costs tied directly to those historical operations. Carriers who issued CGL policies to the operator during the pre-1986 window may be obligated to recover what has already been spent and to fund the additional cleanup still required to bring arsenic concentrations into compliance.

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.