This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1960. 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.

Contamination at this property — petroleum hydrocarbons, vinyl chloride, lead, and metals — originates from landfill and fueling operations active from at least the early 1960s through the 1970s, more than a decade before the 1986 threshold at which occurrence-based CGL policies began including effective pollution exclusions. Carriers who issued policies to WSDOT or to operators like Bayside Disposal Company during that window wrote coverage that applied to exactly this kind of slow, diffuse release from historical land use. The cleanup costs still ahead — continued groundwater monitoring, lead treatment of construction dewatering, and broader site remediation — represent expenditures that those historical carriers may be obligated to fund.

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.