This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.
This 4.56-acre property at 60 S Spokane St in Seattle is zoned Industrial General 2 for general and heavy manufacturing, with previous ownership by Seattle Wire & Cable indicating a manufacturing history. Detected contamination spans a broad industrial footprint: chlorinated solvents including tetrachloroethylene (PCE), trichloroethylene (TCE), cis-dichloroethylene (cis-DCE), and vinyl chloride; heavy metals including cadmium, lead, chromium, and arsenic; and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). A prior No Further Action determination addressed a historic underground-storage-tank release on the property, while the current contamination has not yet entered active cleanup — an independent remedial action is planned under the Voluntary Cleanup Program. 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.
Lead concentrations in soil at this site reach 600 mg/kg, consistent with operations involving leaded gasoline, which was phased out before 1986 — placing those activities squarely in the era when occurrence-based CGL policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The co-presence of PCBs, chlorinated solvents, and heavy metals is characteristic of sustained heavy industrial and manufacturing operations, and Ecology's records attribute the releases to historical rather than recent activity. With active cleanup not yet underway, the full scope of remediation costs — investigation, remedial design, and soil and groundwater treatment — lies ahead, and historical carriers whose policies were in force during those pre-1986 operations may be obligated to fund that work.
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.
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.
