This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1890. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
This property has been in continuous industrial use since approximately 1890, beginning as a lumber mill through the 1930s, transitioning to storage operations from the 1940s, and serving as a marine support facility and boat storage since 1975. A historical release of transformer oil on the northern portion of the site created a plume of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and chlorinated benzene compounds in groundwater. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program has included soil excavations totaling over 160 tons, UST removal, pump-and-treat groundwater systems, permeable treatment walls using granular activated carbon and zero-valent iron, and in-situ injection of Fenton's reagent and oxygen-releasing compounds. Remediation is ongoing, with multi-year plans involving institutional controls and continued monitoring. 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 contamination at this property — PCBs and chlorinated benzenes from a transformer oil release, compounded by contributions from upgradient industrial operations dating to the 1940s — originated decades before 1986. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to operators during the lumber mill, storage, and early marine-facility eras carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law and remain enforceable today. The site's extensive and still-growing remediation costs — soil removal, groundwater treatment systems, reactive barriers, chemical injections, and long-term monitoring — represent expenditures that historical carriers may be obligated both to reimburse 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.
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.
