This property formerly housed Allied Signal/Sundstrand aerospace manufacturing operations at 148th Avenue NE and NE 32nd Street in Redmond. Trichloroethene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) — industrial solvents characteristic of manufacturing degreasing processes — were detected in groundwater, prompting enrollment in the Voluntary Cleanup Program. A remedial investigation, multi-year groundwater monitoring, and a Final Cleanup Report culminated in a No Further Action determination from the Department of Ecology. That history could support an insurance cost recovery claim against carriers who issued insurance policies 40+ years ago.
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.
Groundwater contamination at this site was already under investigation by September 1993, establishing that the solvent releases originated from manufacturing operations conducted years — likely decades — before that date. Allied Signal and Sundstrand held occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies during the pre-1986 era when those policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The documented remediation expenditures — investigation, long-term monitoring, and final cleanup — represent costs that historical carriers who insured the manufacturing operations may still be obligated to cover.
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.
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.
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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.