This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1950. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
The Dressel Property in Tacoma was formerly operated as a paint manufacturing facility — documents specifically reference the American Paint Company — with operations dating to the 1950s and 1960s. A 55-gallon drum of used shot blast grit, identified as the likely source of hazardous substance contamination at the site, was excavated along with 48 tons of impacted soil. Groundwater monitoring through three installed wells encompassed ten sampling events between 2011 and 2017 — six years — confirming contamination removal and compliance with cleanup standards, after which the site received a No Further Action determination under the Voluntary Cleanup Program. That history could support an insurance cost recovery claim against carriers who issued insurance policies 40+ years ago.
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.
Contamination at this property traces to paint manufacturing operations conducted in the 1950s and 1960s, more than two decades before the 1986 threshold after which occurrence-based CGL policies began carrying effective pollution exclusions. The documented remediation here — soil excavation, drum removal, and six years of groundwater monitoring from 2011 through 2017 — represents costs incurred to address a release tied directly to those pre-1986 industrial operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the American Paint Company or its property operators during that window may still be obligated to recover those cleanup expenditures.
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.
Recovering Costs from an Older Cleanup
If this site reached No Further Action years ago, the original cleanup expenditures may be difficult to reconstruct. Restorical's forensic accounting team specializes in re-establishing and documenting past cleanup costs — even decades later — to build the strongest possible basis for an insurance recovery claim.
What We Look For
- Historical insurance policies (pre-1986)
- Policy numbers, carrier names, and coverage periods
- Connection between contamination timing and policy period
- Evidence linking cleanup obligation to insured activity
What We Deliver
- Historical Coverage Chart
- Trigger Analysis & Property/Policy Nexus
- Coverage strategy with recommendations
- Insurance funding for your remediation
- Claims Management & Forensic Accounting
The Restorical Proven Process
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Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
