This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1913. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property 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 fuel oil contamination at this property originated from storage tanks that were installed and in active use from 1913 — more than seven decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still the industry standard and lacked effective pollution exclusions. The documented remediation expenditures — UST and AST removals, large-scale soil excavation, thermal desorption, and offsite water treatment — are costs directly tied to those pre-1986 industrial operations. Historical carriers whose CGL policies covered this facility during its decades of heavy fuel oil storage may be obligated to recover those past cleanup expenditures and to fund the groundwater monitoring and remedial investigations that remain ongoing.

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.