This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1950. 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.

Landfill operations at this site began in the 1950s, more than three decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The contamination requiring ongoing monitoring and extraction stems directly from those decades of waste disposal under pre-1986 operations. The remediation costs this property still faces — continued operation of the SVE system, long-term groundwater and landfill gas monitoring, and sustained site maintenance — could plausibly be financed by historical carriers whose policies were in effect when the contamination originated.

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.