This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1964. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.

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 contamination here originated from industrial disposal activity that ran from 1964 to 1983 — nearly two decades of active use before the 1986 threshold that separates occurrence-based CGL policies from their successors. Alcoa's documented remediation footprint spans multiple distinct campaigns — PCB soil capping, an ongoing hydrocarbon recovery program, and a separate planned project targeting cyanide, fluoride, and TCE in groundwater and subsurface sediment — each representing costs tied directly to that pre-1986 industrial disposal window. Historical carriers who issued occurrence-based policies to Alcoa during those years may be obligated to contribute across that entire multi-phase expenditure trail.

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.