The Sunnydell Dryke Shooting Range has operated at this Sequim property since at least 1960, when dog training and kennel operations began, with shotgun shooting range activities added in 1967. Lead from shotgun shot and cPAHs from clay targets accumulated in soil and sediment across the shooting stations and ponds over decades of continuous use. Remediation has included lead reclamation through soil and sediment excavation, implementation of Best Management Practices, and institutional controls governing future site operations, with compliance and confirmation monitoring to verify effectiveness. The property has received a No Further Action determination and remains active, with multiple sporting clay shotgun stations and a small-caliber range currently in operation. That history could support an insurance cost recovery claim against carriers who issued insurance policies 40+ years ago.
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 lead and cPAH contamination at this site resulted directly from shooting range operations that began in 1967 — nearly two decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still lacked effective pollution exclusions. Progressive accumulation of heavy metals in soil and sediment from routine, ongoing operations is precisely the slow-release contamination scenario those pre-1986 CGL policies were written to address. The documented remediation expenditures — soil and sediment excavation, long-term monitoring, and institutional controls now encumbering the property — represent costs that historical carriers who issued policies during that pre-1986 operational window may be obligated to recover.
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.
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.
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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.