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.
The Boeing Kent Space Center, operated by The Boeing Company, is a large industrial facility comprising multiple numbered buildings with a documented history of underground storage tanks and fueling/defueling operations. A 1998 closure report addressed a container storage area with PCB contamination, and the site is currently undergoing a multi-year Remedial Investigation — with addendums issued through 2017–2018 — that has involved backfilling investigation boreholes with bentonite chips. An environmental covenant restricting groundwater use has been proposed as a remedial measure, and no active cleanup beyond investigation and site controls has yet commenced. 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.
Contamination at this Boeing facility — PCBs from container storage operations and petroleum hydrocarbons from former underground storage tanks and fueling activities — originated from industrial uses that predate 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The documented pre-1986 UST installations and PCB-generating container storage operations place this site squarely within the coverage window of those historical policies. The costs ahead — completing the remedial investigation, implementing a groundwater covenant, and funding eventual cleanup — represent expenditures that historical carriers whose policies were in effect during those operations may be obligated to fund.
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.
