This property has a documented history as a farm and agricultural operation going back to 1940. 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.

EDB and DBCP — the two principal fumigant contaminants found in groundwater here — were federally banned in 1983 and 1985, respectively, after more than four decades of agricultural application in areas like Whatcom County, placing the contamination-generating activity squarely within the pre-1986 window when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. Agricultural operators who held CGL coverage during those growing seasons may have historical carriers with continuing obligations tied to the groundwater contamination those applications produced. The documented remediation trail — emergency bottled water beginning in the mid-1980s, showerhead controls, a permanent municipal water extension, and decades of groundwater monitoring — represents a body of expenditure that pre-1986 policies may be obligated both to recover and to fund going forward.

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.