This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1947. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.

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.

Waste disposal operations at this landfill spanned nearly three decades before 1986, the period when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The petroleum contamination documented in the site's sediment traces directly to those historical operations, and the stormwater management obligations that persist today are a continuing consequence of the same pre-1986 waste-acceptance activity. Responsible parties now facing the costs of future remediation may have recourse against historical carriers whose policies were in force during the landfill's operational years.

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.