This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility predating 1986. 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 contamination here — PCBs, dioxins/furans, PAHs, heavy metals — is the direct product of decades of industrial and commercial discharges that predate 1986 by a substantial margin, as the 1983 NPL listing makes clear. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies issued to the operators and dischargers during that pre-1986 window had no effective pollution exclusion and remain enforceable today. The documented remediation costs already incurred — 273,330 cubic yards of sediment removal — and the ten-year construction program still to come represent expenditures that historical carriers may be obligated both to recover and to fund going forward.

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.