This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1967. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
This property operated as the Willamette Industries corrugated plant, a manufacturing facility whose underground storage tanks — installed in 1967, 1975, and 1980 — supplied fuel to company vehicles and diesel oil to the plant's boiler. In 1995, four USTs were removed and approximately 800 cubic yards of petroleum-contaminated soil were excavated; perched groundwater was pumped out and discharged to the sanitary sewer, and the excavated soil was treated through on-site landfarming and reused as backfill. Despite that remediation, the site remained on the Hazardous Sites List as of 2013 due to unresolved groundwater contamination requiring further investigation or cleanup. 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 contamination at this site originated from underground storage tanks installed between 1967 and 1980 — including one that stored leaded regular gasoline — well before the 1986 shift away from occurrence-based CGL policies. The documented remediation costs already incurred, from UST removal and large-scale soil excavation to groundwater recovery and on-site treatment, trace directly to releases from those pre-1986 operations. With groundwater contamination still unresolved and further cleanup anticipated, historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the tanks' operational window may be obligated both to recover past expenditures and to fund the remediation work ahead.
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.