This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.

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 petroleum contamination at this site — TPH, BTEX, and heating oil constituents — originated from underground storage tanks estimated to have been installed in the early 1970s, more than a decade before 1986 when occurrence-based CGL policies still carried no effective pollution exclusion. The documented remediation costs — tank removal, soil excavation, groundwater recovery, and over a decade of post-cleanup assessment — were incurred to address releases tied directly to those pre-1986 tank operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the period those tanks were in service may still be obligated to cover those cleanup expenditures.

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.