This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1920. 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.

Arsenic-based wood treatment and PCP application at this site were ongoing from the mid-1940s through 1978 — a roughly 30-year window that falls entirely within the era of occurrence-based CGL policies with no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law. The mill's contamination profile — arsenic, PCP, and petroleum hydrocarbons from USTs installed in the 1960s and 1970s — is the product of decades of industrial activity by identifiable operators at this specific property, precisely the scenario those historical policies were written to address. The documented remediation expenditures already incurred — tank removals, soil excavation, groundwater treatment systems, shoreline restoration — represent costs that historical carriers may be obligated both to recover and to fund as cleanup work continues.

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.