This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1940. 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.

The contamination at this site originates entirely from waste-oil disposal and burning conducted in the 1940s — more than four decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. Multiple large institutional operators active at this pit during that period — the Port of Seattle, the United States Navy, Boeing Company, and King County — each would have held CGL coverage that applied to gradual pollution releases without exclusion. The investigation and remediation costs the site now faces are the kind of expenditures that historical carriers who issued policies to those operators during the pre-1986 dumping window may remain obligated to fund.

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.