This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1964. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This manufacturing facility has been occupied by Formost Packaging Machines Inc. since 1975, with a 2,000-gallon gasoline underground storage tank on the property dating to 1964. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program spanned from 1989 to 2006, beginning with the UST's removal and encompassing soil excavations totaling 995 cubic yards treated onsite via aeration and 1,318 tons thermally incinerated off-site, groundwater treatment through free-product recovery, Oxygen Release Compound injections at 12 subsurface locations, and activated-carbon filtration of purged groundwater. Multi-year quarterly groundwater monitoring confirmed conditions sufficient for a No Further Action determination. 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 gasoline contamination at this site traces to an underground storage tank installed in 1964 — more than two decades before occurrence-based CGL policies gave way to claims-made forms with pollution exclusions. Seventeen years of documented remediation expenditures, from tank removal and large-scale soil excavation to subsurface bioremediation and long-term groundwater monitoring, were incurred to address releases that originated squarely within the pre-1986 policy window. Historical carriers who covered operations at this property during those years may still owe indemnity for the cleanup costs already spent.
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.
