This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1973. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This Sunnyside property operated as a fruit and vegetable processing and canning facility, with two 20,000-gallon underground storage tanks — holding diesel and #6 bunker fuel — installed in 1973 to support those food processing operations. Both tanks were closed in-place in 1991, and approximately 70 cubic yards of petroleum-contaminated soil were excavated and removed in 1992 following assessment sampling and minor excavations. Washington State Ecology has issued a No Further Action determination for the site. 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 petroleum contamination at this property traces directly to USTs installed in 1973 — more than a decade before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still written without effective pollution exclusions. The documented remediation expenditures here — tank closure assessments, soil excavation, and removal of impacted material — were incurred to address releases tied to that pre-1986 operational period. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the food processing operator during that window may remain obligated to contribute to those cleanup 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.
