This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1943. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Dunkin & Bush Inc. has operated as a large industrial painting contractor at this Redmond property since 1943, handling large quantities of solvents and solvent-based paints with dedicated material storage areas, a solvent recycling area, and a steam cleaning pad on site. Cleanup activities in 1992 addressed two distinct contamination sources: petroleum product releases tied to three underground storage tanks that were removed, and prior disposal of paints at the property. The site has since received a No Further Action determination under the Standard 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.
Solvent-intensive industrial painting operations at this property date to 1943 — more than four decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies uniformly lacked effective pollution exclusions. The contamination here, tied to both petroleum USTs and industrial paint solvents disposed of prior to 1990, is precisely the type of long-running, pre-cutoff release those policies were written to cover. Historical CGL carriers who insured Dunkin & Bush Inc. during that pre-1986 operational window may be obligated to fund the remediation costs already incurred in addressing those releases.
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
Ready to learn more?
Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
