This property has a documented history as a public works and maintenance facility predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.

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 underground storage tanks at this property were operational long enough to require formal decommissioning by 1997, placing their installation and active use squarely in the pre-1986 era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The contamination discovered here — petroleum, metals, asbestos, and PCBs — is consistent with decades of slow releases from aging infrastructure, exactly the type of occurrence those historical policies were written to cover. The remediation costs incurred across three years of cleanup, from UST removal through groundwater treatment, represent expenditures that historical carriers who insured the municipal operations during that window may still be obligated to fund.

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.