This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1969. 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.

Mercury and silver contamination at this property originates directly from dental operations that began in 1969 — more than fifteen years before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies stopped reliably covering pollution claims. The slow, ongoing discharge of heavy-metal amalgam waste into a septic system is precisely the type of continuous release those pre-1986 CGL policies were written to address. Remediation costs ahead — septic system work, site investigation, and whatever cleanup Ecology ultimately requires — may be recoverable from historical carriers whose policies were in force during the decades those discharges occurred.

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.