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 — 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.

ASARCO's smelting operations at Ruston spanned more than nine decades, meaning commercial general liability policies were issued and renewed to the company — and its predecessors — across generation after generation of coverage periods. The arsenic, lead, and cadmium contamination now driving Superfund and MTCA cleanup costs accumulated continuously throughout those decades of smelting activity, each year of operation representing another policy period that may carry occurrence-based coverage obligations. Carriers who wrote CGL policies for ASARCO during that long operational window face potential liability for remediation costs tied directly to the contamination the smelter produced over those years.

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.