This property has a documented history as a farm and agricultural operation going back to 1964. 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 underground storage tanks installed at this property in 1964 — more than two decades before the 1986 pollution-exclusion shift — stored leaded gasoline and contributed to the soil contamination that eventually required excavation and building demolition. Any occurrence-based CGL policies carried by DeJong Packing Co. during the years those 1964-era tanks were leaking would have covered exactly this kind of gradual release without a pollution exclusion. The remediation costs documented between 2004 and 2007 — soil excavation, contaminated-material disposal, structural demolition — are the type of expenditures those historical policies were written to fund.

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.