This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1956. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.
This property has been in continuous industrial use since at least 1956, when a building housing a machine shop and garage was constructed on the site. Subsequent tenants included Aquazyme West, Inc., a portable chemical toilet company operating from 1976 to 1989, and the current occupant, Entry Systems Inc., which uses the ground floor for assembly and parts storage. A petroleum spill was remediated in 1988 and a diesel underground storage tank was removed in 1991 with overexcavation of surrounding soils; trichloroethene (TCE) and tetrachloroethene (PCE) were later detected in groundwater near a sewer dump drain within the main work area, with the contamination discovered in 1999 and attributed to historical releases. The site is currently awaiting cleanup under Ecology's Standard Cleanup program. 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.
Industrial operations at this property — machine shop work, chemical toilet servicing, petroleum storage — span decades before 1986, the year occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies stopped reliably covering pollution claims. The chlorinated-solvent contamination found in groundwater here is characteristic of the slow, subsurface releases that those pre-1986 policies were written to address, and the property owner now faces investigation and remediation costs that have yet to be incurred. Historical carriers whose CGL policies were in effect during the decades of industrial activity at this site may be obligated to fund the cleanup work ahead.
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.
