This property has a documented history as a farm and agricultural operation predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
The Floral Crest Greenhouse and Nursery operated a commercial horticultural facility at this Seattle property, employing pesticides and fumigants — including Chlordane, DDT, and methyl bromide — characteristic of greenhouse operations of that era. The Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers conducted independent remedial actions to address releases of lead, arsenic, Chlordane, 4,4'-DDT, DDD, DDE, asbestos, and methyl bromide into the air, soil, and groundwater at the site. Those cleanup actions resulted in a No Further Action determination from the Washington State Department of Ecology, finding that the documented releases no longer pose a threat. 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 contaminants identified at this property — particularly Chlordane, banned for most agricultural uses in 1978, and DDT, banned in 1972 — are diagnostic of nursery operations that predate 1986 by at least a decade and likely longer. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies issued to the facility operators during that pre-1986 window carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The remediation costs borne by the Army Corps of Engineers to address those pesticide, heavy-metal, and fumigant releases into soil and groundwater represent expenditures that historical carriers, whose policies were in force when Chlordane and DDT were actively applied at this site, may be obligated to recover.
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.
