This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1905. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.

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 PAH and arsenic contamination here is directly attributable to creosote applied during wood pipe treatment by Continental Pipe Manufacturing Co. and its predecessors — operators who carried CGL policies across decades of activity stretching from 1917 into the mid-twentieth century, long before 1986. Those carriers insured a specific industrial process — pipe treatment with known coal-tar derivatives — under policy forms that imposed no effective pollution exclusion on that process. Excavating tens of thousands of cubic yards of creosote-impacted soil, constructing shoring infrastructure, capping multiple areas, and sustaining long-term groundwater treatment are all costs that flow from the pipe-treatment operations those historical policies covered, and the carriers who issued them may remain obligated to contribute.

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.