This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1950. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.

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 26-year period of uncontrolled dumping at Eatonville — from the landfill's opening in 1950 through 1976 — places the contamination-causing operations three decades before the 1986 threshold, meaning the municipal operators who ran this site throughout its active life were insured under occurrence-based CGL policies that had not yet adopted effective pollution exclusions. Those carriers may still bear responsibility for the documented and ongoing remediation costs — excavation, wetland restoration, and a decade of financial assurance obligations — that continue to accrue from waste deposition that occurred on their watch.

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.