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.

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.

Mining operations at this property — producing silver, lead, and zinc — ceased before 1957, more than three decades before occurrence-based CGL policies began incorporating effective pollution exclusions in 1986. The tailings pile left on site represents a continuing source of metal contamination that is precisely the type of slow, persistent release those pre-1986 policies were written to cover. The cleanup costs still ahead — remediation design, tailings management, and long-term monitoring — could plausibly be funded by historical carriers whose policies were in force during the mine's active operational period.

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.