This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1970. 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.

Industrial maintenance and chemical-handling operations at this facility began in the early 1970s — more than a decade before 1986 — with contamination from benzene, petroleum hydrocarbons, metals, and nitrates traceable directly to those pre-1986 activities and to a leach field system in use prior to 1994. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies issued to facility operators during that window carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law and remain enforceable today. The documented remediation trail — source control infrastructure, multi-year groundwater monitoring, and ongoing Standard Cleanup proceedings — represents expenditures the 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.