This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1971. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has housed machining and welding operations since 1971, when Custom Hydraulic & Machine Inc. began occupying a building constructed in 1969. Contamination from hydraulic oils, cleaning solvents, and metal-cutting residues led to a Voluntary Cleanup Program effort spanning 2003 to 2013, which included excavation and off-site disposal of approximately 439 tons of contaminated soil, removal of 380 gallons of contaminated groundwater, and pressure cleaning of catch basins. 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 originated from machining and welding operations that began in 1971 — fifteen years before occurrence-based CGL policies gave way to claims-made forms with pollution exclusions. The documented cleanup costs, including large-scale soil excavation, groundwater removal, and a decade of remedial work under the Voluntary Cleanup Program, are the type of expenditures that historical carriers who wrote occurrence-based policies during the 1971–1985 window may be obligated to cover. With operations continuous from 1971 to the present, the exposure period aligns squarely with the pre-1986 policy era.
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.