This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1975. 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.

The contamination here traces directly to Asarco slag — an industrial smelting byproduct carrying arsenic and lead — deliberately deposited on this property in the mid-1970s by identifiable forest industry parties. A landfill site receiving named industrial waste from a specific source is precisely the fact pattern where pre-1986 CGL carriers face direct exposure: the depositors carried occurrence-based policies when the fill went in, and those policies covered the kind of slow, ongoing release that Asarco slag and mixed industrial debris produce. With no contaminated fill yet removed, the full cost of excavation and remediation lies ahead — and those historical policies remain potentially accessible to fund it.

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.