This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1940. 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 transformer-draining and salvage operations that produced PCB contamination at this property were conducted over decades before 1986 — activities that fall squarely within the coverage window of occurrence-based CGL policies, which at the time carried no effective pollution exclusion for exactly this type of slow, diffuse industrial release. Carriers who issued policies to Floyd Equipment Co. during those pre-1986 decades of transformer processing and equipment salvage may remain obligated to fund the capping, institutional controls, and long-term monitoring the site's ongoing remediation now requires.

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.