This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1969. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.

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.

Diesel fueling and vehicle maintenance at this freight terminal began in 1969 — seventeen years before occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies stopped reliably covering pollution claims in Washington. The contamination discovered during the 1988 UST removals traces directly to those pre-1986 operations, placing historical carriers who issued CGL policies during that window squarely within the scope of potential cost recovery. The remediation costs documented here — five UST removals, excavation of nearly 1,500 cubic yards of impacted soil, treatment of millions of gallons of groundwater, and over three decades of monitoring — represent precisely the liabilities those pre-1986 policies were written to address.

Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful cost recovery claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage for costs already incurred. Restorical's forensic accounting team works to re-establish and document past cleanup expenditures, ensuring the strongest possible basis for recovery.