This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1950. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property served as an active construction debris landfill from the 1950s through the 1970s, accepting ash, scrap metal, wood, asphalt, concrete, and glass. Under the Voluntary Cleanup Program, remediation included excavation of an estimated 5,000 to 7,250 cubic yards of landfill material, removal of two 500-gallon underground storage tanks, quarterly groundwater monitoring sustained for over a year with biannual monitoring recommended for an additional two years, and placement of an environmental deed restriction on the property. 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 — petroleum hydrocarbons and a suite of heavy metals including lead, arsenic, chromium, cadmium, zinc, and mercury — traces to landfill operations and underground storage tanks that were in place decades before 1986. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to the operators during that pre-1986 window carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law. The documented remediation expenditures — thousands of cubic yards of material excavation, tank removals, years of groundwater monitoring, and a permanent deed restriction — represent cleanup costs that historical carriers who covered those operations may still be obligated to reimburse.
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
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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.