This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operates as a natural gas meter station under Northwest Pipeline GP, where differential pressure manometers historically used inorganic mercury to measure gas flow volumes through the pipeline network. Accidental mercury spillage during routine maintenance and calibration of those instruments contaminated the surrounding soil, prompting an initial excavation of two drums of impacted material in 1990 and a more extensive excavation and re-dig in 2009 under the Voluntary Cleanup Program, which had been formalized in 2005. The 2009 work disposed of 24.39 tons of non-hazardous soil and one bag of WT02-classified dangerous waste, followed by backfilling and site restoration. The site has since received a No Further Action determination. 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 contamination at this station traces directly to mercury-containing manometers that were phased out in the mid-to-late 1980s, placing the operative release events within the period when occurrence-based CGL policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. A cleanup program that began in the early 1990s and required two separate rounds of soil excavation spanning nearly twenty years reflects the remediation liability that accumulated from those pre-1986 metering operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to Northwest Pipeline GP while those mercury-charged instruments were in active use may still be obligated to recover the documented excavation, disposal, and restoration costs.
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.
