This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This multi-parcel industrial property in Tacoma's industrial district housed a steel foundry at 2328 East 11th Street, where historical operations left heavy staining inside the building and released arsenic, lead, metals, and petroleum hydrocarbons into the environment. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included in-place closure of a 675-gallon heating oil tank, pumping and closure of an 800-gallon septic tank, demolition of three buildings with hazardous materials abatement and disposal, and capping of the site with 7 tons of asphalt. A restrictive covenant was recorded in 2004, with five-year periodic reviews required going forward. 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.
The arsenic, lead, metals, and petroleum hydrocarbons documented at this site trace to steel foundry operations that predate 1986, the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The remediation record here — tank closures, building demolitions, hazardous materials abatement, asphalt capping, and a recorded covenant binding future land use — reflects multi-phase cleanup expenditures tied directly to those pre-1986 industrial activities. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the foundry's operational period may still be obligated to fund recovery of those 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.
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.
