This property has a documented history as a public works and maintenance facility going back to 1965. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
The K Street Apartments have been operated by the Tacoma Housing Authority (THA) as an independent elderly housing facility since the building's construction in approximately 1965. In 1999, during a hydraulic elevator upgrade, THA discovered petroleum-contaminated soil in the former elevator pit — the result of hydraulic fluid that had leaked gradually over the elevator's decades of operation before its replacement. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included excavation and off-site thermal desorption of approximately 38 cubic yards of contaminated soil, removal of a drywell and drainage features, installation of a sub-slab depressurization system (SSDS) for ongoing vapor mitigation, and placement of an asphalt and concrete cap. The property remains subject to an Environmental Covenant and long-term monitoring obligations. 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 hydraulic elevator at K Street Apartments operated from approximately 1965 — when the facility was constructed — until its replacement in 1999, meaning more than two decades of that operation, and the contamination accumulating beneath it, predates 1986. The release was not a discrete spill but a slow, undetected accumulation of hydraulic fluid in the elevator pit across those decades, a gradual-onset pattern that is precisely the factual basis for triggering occurrence-based CGL coverage. THA's documented remediation costs — soil excavation, thermal treatment, a permanent vapor-mitigation system, and a recorded Environmental Covenant binding the property in perpetuity — are tied directly to that pre-1986 accumulation and represent expenditures that historical carriers who insured the facility during its pre-1986 operating years may be obligated to recover.
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.
