This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1930. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
This property served as a concrete and asphalt batch plant, truck and equipment maintenance yard, and dispatch facility — first under Washington Asphalt Company beginning in the 1930s, then as Lakeside Industries. Concrete operations ran from the 1930s through the mid-1970s, with asphalt batching from the 1950s to the 1960s. Cleanup under the Standard Cleanup Program has included multiple phases of contaminated soil excavation totaling thousands of cubic yards, removal of numerous underground and aboveground storage tanks, and recent remedial actions in 2021–2022 that added engineered controls including a soil cap and vapor barrier, supported by an Environmental Covenant and ongoing monitoring. 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.
Contamination at this site — petroleum hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and metals — traces to industrial operations and a petroleum UST system that were active decades before 1986. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to Washington Asphalt Company and its successors during that pre-1986 window carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law. The documented remediation expenditures — repeated soil excavations, tank removals, engineered controls, and long-term monitoring obligations — represent costs the historical carriers may be obligated both to reimburse and to fund as cleanup continues.
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.
