This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1940. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has been used as a medical and dental office since at least 1940, with multiple practitioners operating at the site through the late 1980s when Dr. Johnson acquired it for her dental practice. Mercury contamination originated from dental amalgam discharged through the facility's septic system, with a broken sewage pipe contributing to contamination of the crawlspace soil. Remediation included installation of an amalgam scavenger unit in 1995 to prevent further mercury discharge and excavation and removal of approximately 2 cubic yards of mercury-contaminated soil from the crawlspace in fall 1997. The site has since received a No Further Action determination. 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.
Mercury-containing dental amalgam was in routine use at this property from 1940 onward — more than four decades before 1986, when occurrence-based CGL policies were still the prevailing coverage form and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The gradual discharge of mercury through the septic system and a broken pipe is precisely the kind of slow, ongoing release those pre-1986 policies were written to address. Historical carriers who issued liability coverage to the practitioners operating here during that window may retain obligations for the investigation and remediation expenditures the property's cleanup required.
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
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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.
