This property has a documented history as a farm and agricultural operation predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.

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 petroleum contamination here is explicitly attributed to the historical agricultural use of this property, and structures on the site date as far back as 1904 — placing active operations well before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry norm and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The documented remediation expenditures at this former dairy — more than 300 tons of soil excavated, contact water disposed of off-site, and monitoring wells installed — represent cleanup costs that arose directly from those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers whose CGL policies were in force during the dairy's operational years may still be obligated to contribute to the recovery of those remediation costs.

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.