This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1971. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has housed industrial steel manufacturing operations since at least 1971, when a predecessor entity known as Cascade Metal Building occupied the site; HCI Steel Building Systems Inc. began operations around 1980, manufacturing pre-engineered steel systems through forming, grinding, welding, degreasing, and painting processes involving petroleum hydrocarbons, toluene, methylene chloride, diesel fuel, transmission fluids, and various paints and solvents. Documents note historical dumping of fuels at the property in addition to discrete incidents including a 1993 paint thinner dumping. Under the Voluntary Cleanup Program, cleanup activities conducted from 2007 to 2011 involved excavation and off-site disposal of approximately 11.4 cubic yards of contaminated shallow soils, followed by confirmation sampling. The site has since received 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-range and diesel-range petroleum hydrocarbons and PAHs identified in the shallow soils here are consistent with prolonged industrial fuel handling and degreasing operations that date to at least 1971 — more than a decade before 1986, when occurrence-based CGL policies ceased to reliably cover pollution claims. Historical carriers who issued policies to this facility and its predecessor during that pre-1986 operational window had no effective pollution exclusion in Washington State and may still be obligated to respond to the documented cleanup costs. The soil excavation, off-site disposal, and confirmation sampling expenditures incurred under the VCP represent recoverable costs tied directly to those long-running pre-1986 releases.
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.
