This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1924. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property 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 metals contamination at this site originates from shipbuilding practices — sandblasting and metalworking — that began in 1924, more than six decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still carried no effective pollution exclusion. Remediation costs for the 1996 excavation and the EPA dredging campaign were incurred by Ecology and paid by Martinac, with ongoing monitoring and maintenance obligations running under recorded restrictive covenants. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to Martinac during that long pre-1986 operational window may be obligated both to recover those documented expenditures and to fund the site's continuing post-cleanup control requirements.

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.