This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1900. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.

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.

Contamination at this property traces to lumber mill operations that began in the early 1900s and ran continuously for roughly a century, with neighboring underground storage tanks installed as early as 1964 — all decades before the 1986 shift away from occurrence-based Commercial General Liability coverage. CGL policies issued to the successive mill operators across that multi-decade pre-1986 window would have covered precisely the kind of slow, operational contamination documented here. The remediation costs already incurred — demolition, deep soil excavation, groundwater treatment, and petroleum cleanup across multiple areas — and those still ahead represent expenditures the historical carriers may be obligated both to recover and to fund going forward.

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.