This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1938. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations 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.

Landfill operations at this site began in the late 1930s and continued for roughly fifty years — the vast majority of that period predating 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The leachate migration and PCB soil contamination documented here are the cumulative product of decades of waste disposal conducted under those pre-1986 policy terms. The site's documented remediation expenditures — capping, stormwater infrastructure, gas recovery, groundwater investigation and treatment, and multi-year post-closure monitoring obligations — represent costs tied directly to that long operational history, which historical carriers whose policies were in force during those decades may be obligated to fund.

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.