This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1947. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property was developed before 1893 and hosted a succession of commercial and industrial operations — including dye works, sheet-metal shops, and an automotive garage — from at least 1947 through 1965, when the site was converted to a Taco Time restaurant that operated until 2010. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included excavation and off-site disposal of contaminated soil, removal of underground storage tanks, in-situ chemical oxidation of groundwater using sodium persulfate injection, installation of a permanent dewatering system, and quarterly groundwater monitoring from 2006 through 2015. The site has received a No Further Action determination from Ecology. 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 1,2-dichloroethane and petroleum contamination at this property traces directly to dye works, sheet-metal, and automotive operations that ran for nearly two decades before 1986 — the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The documented remediation expenditures — soil excavation, tank removal, chemical oxidation, a permanent dewatering system, and a decade of groundwater monitoring — were incurred to address releases tied to those pre-1986 industrial operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the 1947-to-1965 operational window may still be obligated to recover 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.