This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1980. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
Maralco operated an aluminum recycling and refinery facility at this property from 1980 to 1986, producing aluminum alloy ingots from scrap aluminum and generating waste including black dross, furnace slag, and baghouse dust. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program has spanned decades: an emergency interim action in 1987 stabilized the on-site dross pile, a 35,000-gallon diesel underground storage tank was removed in 1995, and the dross piles themselves were removed in 2023. Additional work scheduled for 2024 includes contaminated soil removal, replacement of drainage ditches with piping, and decommissioning of monitoring wells. 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 metal contamination and petroleum releases at this site originated from aluminum smelting operations and a diesel UST that were in place during the 1980-to-1986 operational window — squarely within the era of occurrence-based CGL policies with no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. Documented remediation expenditures stretching from 1987 through the present — emergency stabilization, tank removal, dross pile removal, soil excavation, and long-term groundwater monitoring — represent costs that historical carriers who issued policies during those six years of operation 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.
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.
