This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1910. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.

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 shipyard originates from more than a century of industrial marine operations, and pre-1986 events are directly documented: a gasoline UST installed and operated before the 1980s and a fire at an on-site OPALCO building in 1976 both fall squarely within the era of occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies that lacked an effective pollution exclusion. The PAHs, PCBs, heavy metals, and tributyltin now under investigation are characteristic slow-release industrial contaminants that those policies were written to address. The investigation, feasibility study design, and remediation work the site now faces could plausibly be funded by historical carriers whose policies were in force during the decades of shipyard operations preceding 1986.

Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful coverage claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage. Restorical then manages the claim, including accounting, to ensure the cleanup is funded in a timely manner.