This property has a documented history as a landfill predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
The Snyder Roofing Broadway property at 20203 Broadway Ave in Snohomish served as an unpermitted dump site where a former owner, Mr. Harry West, disposed of old fill dirt and construction debris — gypsum wallboard, lumber, jobsite waste, and asphalt chunks — in depths ranging from one to six feet across the center of the site. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included excavation and removal of the fill and debris, installation of three resource protection wells for multi-year groundwater monitoring, and filing of an Environmental/Restrictive Covenant as an institutional control. The site has received a No Further Action determination from Ecology. 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 construction debris and fill dumped at this Broadway Avenue property originated from disposal practices that predate 1986, when the material was placed by a prior owner well before the current ownership succession. The remediation costs incurred here — debris excavation, groundwater well installation, years of monitoring, and restrictive covenant preparation — are the type of legacy-disposal expenses that historical CGL carriers covering the property during the dumping era may still be obligated to fund. Because this landfill site has already reached No Further Action status, the full scope of cleanup expenditures is established and recoverable.
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
Ready to learn more?
Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.