This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1902. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
This property has operated as an asphalt refinery and oil products distribution terminal since 1902, when the original asphalt factory was built and a vacuum distillation column installed to manufacture asphalt from crude oil. Petroleum storage at the site dates to at least 1911, with major facility expansions in the mid-1930s, 1942, and 1950, and documented spills in 1972 and 1985. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program has included excavation of contaminated beach sand and rock riprap, focused soil excavations, installation of sheet pile barrier walls, and a groundwater pump-and-treat and product recovery system that operated for twenty-two years from 1997 through 2019. Remediation work is ongoing. 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.
Petroleum and lead contamination at Point Wells traces to industrial operations that began more than eight decades before 1986 — the year occurrence-based CGL policies ceased reliably covering pollution claims in Washington. The documented remediation expenditures spanning decades — barrier wall construction, beach and soil excavation, and a twenty-two-year groundwater extraction and treatment program — represent costs directly tied to releases from those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the terminal's operators during that long operational window may be obligated both to recover past cleanup costs and to fund the remediation that continues today.
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.