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.

The heavy metal contamination documented here — arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, and zinc — reflects the legacy of industrial chemical operations that accumulated over years of facility activity before modern environmental standards were widely enforced. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies issued to Bay Chemical operators prior to 1986 carried no effective pollution exclusion and remain potentially enforceable against releases originating in that pre-regulatory era. The documented remediation expenditures — soil excavation, engineered containment infrastructure, and years of semiannual groundwater monitoring — are the kind of costs that historical carriers may be obligated to recover.

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.