This property has a documented history as a public works and maintenance facility predating 1986. 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 contamination at this facility — hydraulic oil with suspected polychlorinated biphenyls — originated from hoist systems whose age prompted environmental consultants to test specifically for PCBs, a class of chemicals banned from U.S. production in 1979. That testing protocol strongly implies the hydraulic equipment and the contamination it caused predate 1986, the period when occurrence-based CGL policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The documented remediation expenditures — multi-bay soil excavation, thermal treatment, groundwater recovery, and continuing site monitoring — represent cleanup costs that historical carriers on risk during the facility's pre-1986 operations may be obligated to cover.

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.