This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1953. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.

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.

Waste disposal operations at this site date to at least 1953 — more than three decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies ceased reliably covering pollution claims. The contamination attributed here to the earlier operation of the county landfill is precisely the kind of gradual, long-running release that pre-1986 CGL policies were written to address. With investigation now complete and remediation still ahead, the cleanup costs facing the responsible party — site design, excavation, and long-term restoration — are the type of expenditures historical carriers whose policies were in force during the landfill's operational years 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.