This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1957. 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.

Hazardous substance releases at this site were first reported in 1978, 1979, and 1980 — nearly a decade before 1986, the year occurrence-based CGL policies stopped reliably covering pollution claims in Washington State. The contamination in soil, sediment, and groundwater here is directly tied to decades of pulp and specialty fiber manufacturing that began in 1957, the kind of chronic industrial release those pre-1986 policies were written to address. The cleanup costs the responsible parties now face — a full RI/FS, interim excavation, tank and pipe removal, and groundwater remediation — could plausibly be funded by historical carriers whose occurrence-based policies were in force during the decades of pre-1986 operations at this mill.

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.