This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1955. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property served as the operating base for the American Tar Company (ATCO) from 1955 through 1990, manufacturing and distributing roofing coatings, coal tar emulsions, asphalt cements, and wood preservatives including pentachlorophenol and copper naphthenate formulations. Remediation under the Standard Cleanup program included excavation and off-site disposal of up to 5,000 cubic yards of PAH- and PCP-contaminated soil and perched groundwater, construction of a concrete containment vault for approximately 10 cubic yards of highly contaminated PCP soil with institutional controls, demolition of site structures, and installation of a permanent French drain for groundwater control. Compliance monitoring continued through 2000, and the site has 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.
Contamination at this property — polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and pentachlorophenol from decades of tar processing and wood-preservative formulation — traces directly to manufacturing operations that began in 1955, more than thirty years before occurrence-based CGL policies gave way to claims-made forms with pollution exclusions. The scale of documented remediation costs — thousands of cubic yards of contaminated soil removed, an engineered containment vault constructed, long-term groundwater controls installed — represents substantial expenditures tied to releases that occurred squarely within the coverage window of those historical policies. Carriers who issued CGL coverage to ATCO or the property owner during that pre-1986 operational period may still be obligated to reimburse those cleanup costs.
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
Ready to learn more?
Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.