This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1982. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Around 1982, drums of industrial and petroleum waste — including roof tar, heavy oils, diesel, asphalt cold patch, and materials containing arsenic and lead — were dumped and buried on this property. Remediation began in 1996 with initial drum and contaminated-soil removal, followed in 1998 by excavation and off-site disposal of approximately 27,000 pounds of additional contaminated soil and drums. Post-cleanup groundwater monitoring was conducted from 2001 to 2002, after which Ecology issued a No Further Action determination 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.
The contamination here originated from a discrete dumping event that occurred approximately in 1982, placing it squarely within the period when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The combination of petroleum products and heavy metals — arsenic and lead among them — recovered from buried drums is precisely the category of industrial waste release those pre-1986 policies were written to address. Historical carriers who issued CGL coverage to responsible parties in or around 1982 may still be obligated to recover the documented remediation costs, including two phases of drum removal, soil excavation, and multi-year groundwater monitoring.
Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful cost recovery claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage for costs already incurred. Restorical's forensic accounting team works to re-establish and document past cleanup expenditures, ensuring the strongest possible basis for recovery.
Recovering Costs from an Older Cleanup
If this site reached No Further Action years ago, the original cleanup expenditures may be difficult to reconstruct. Restorical's forensic accounting team specializes in re-establishing and documenting past cleanup costs — even decades later — to build the strongest possible basis for an insurance recovery claim.
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
Ready to learn more?
Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
