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 recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Hydraulic Repair & Design Inc. operated a repair and manufacturing facility in Kent, Washington, where a chrome plating dip tank leaked chromic acid — a release discovered in 1989. Remediation under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included removal of two 2,000-gallon underground storage tanks, active groundwater extraction and treatment from 1991 through 2002, groundwater monitoring through 2004, and an in situ microbial reduction pilot test involving the injection of 750 gallons of molasses solution. The site has since reached No Further Action status. 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 chromic acid contamination here originated from chrome plating operations conducted before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The documented remediation record — UST removals, eleven years of active groundwater extraction and treatment, long-term monitoring, and in situ biological treatment — represents a substantial body of cleanup expenditures tied directly to those pre-1986 industrial operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the facility during that operational window may still be obligated to fund recovery of those costs.
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.
