This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1964. 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 contamination here — petroleum hydrocarbons, solvents, creosote, pesticides, and metals — accumulated through more than four decades of industrial-scale operations beginning in 1964, well before 1986 when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies stopped reliably covering pollution claims. Those pre-1986 policies carried no effective pollution exclusion and remain potentially enforceable against historical carriers who insured the museum's operations during that window. The documented soil excavation and the unresolved remediation liabilities that remain represent expenditures historical carriers may be obligated both to recover and to fund going forward.

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.