This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1909. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property housed the DuPont Works explosives manufacturing plant, operated by E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company from 1909 to 1977, producing smokeless powder and storing explosives in on-site magazines. Lead and arsenic contamination from those operations was addressed through multiple phases of soil excavation and off-site disposal conducted between 1991 and 1995, and again in 2007. A Restrictive Covenant limiting the property to industrial land use was recorded in 1995; the 2007 cleanup phase was undertaken in part to lift that covenant and achieve unrestricted land use. The site has received a No Further Action determination under the Voluntary Cleanup Program. That history could support an insurance cost recovery claim against carriers who issued insurance policies 40+ years ago.
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 lead, arsenic, and explosives contamination at this property originated from nearly seven decades of industrial manufacturing operations that concluded in 1977 — well before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. Carriers who issued CGL policies to E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company during that long operational window may retain exposure for the documented remediation expenditures: two separate rounds of soil excavation and off-site disposal spanning the 1990s through 2007, plus the costs associated with the restrictive covenant process. Those costs trace directly to pre-1986 operations.
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.
Recovering Costs from an Older Cleanup
If this site reached No Further Action years ago, the original cleanup expenditures may be difficult to reconstruct. Restorical's forensic accounting team specializes in re-establishing and documenting past cleanup costs — even decades later — to build the strongest possible basis for an insurance recovery claim.
What We Look For
- Historical insurance policies (pre-1986)
- Policy numbers, carrier names, and coverage periods
- Connection between contamination timing and policy period
- Evidence linking cleanup obligation to insured activity
What We Deliver
- Historical Coverage Chart
- Trigger Analysis & Property/Policy Nexus
- Coverage strategy with recommendations
- Insurance funding for your remediation
- Claims Management & Forensic Accounting
The Restorical Proven Process
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Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
