This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1911. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property at 400 E Mill Plain Boulevard in Vancouver supported residential use from 1911 through 1961, followed by a restaurant from 1976 through 2005, and is currently occupied by an office building. Three underground injection controls (UICs), or drywells, were found at depths of 13 to 20 feet below ground surface with sediments containing cadmium, mercury, chromium VI, and lead above MTCA cleanup levels. In 2008, under the Voluntary Cleanup Program, the UICs were excavated and decommissioned by backfilling with controlled density fill to encapsulate the contaminated sediments, with continued assessments through at least 2016. The site has since received a No Further Action determination. 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 contaminated drywells are believed to predate the restaurant that operated from 1976, placing the origin of the heavy-metal accumulation in the residential-era stormwater drainage that preceded 1961 — decades before 1986. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies issued to operators at this address during that pre-1986 window carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law and remain enforceable today. The documented remediation costs — drywell excavation, controlled density fill encapsulation, and years of ongoing VCP assessments — are directly attributable to contamination that accumulated during those pre-1986 operations, and the historical carriers who issued policies during that window may still be obligated to fund them.
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
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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.
