This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1965. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.
This waterfront property operated as a fish packing plant from 1912 through the mid-1960s before Lovric's Sea-Craft began operating a ship repair facility on the site in 1965. Ship repair activities included woodworking, metal fabrication, hull painting and high-pressure washing, zinc replacement, sandblasting, and electrical and mechanical work; the site remains an active industrial shipyard, currently operated by Stabbert Marine & Industrial, LLC. Two 10,000-gallon underground storage tanks have been removed from the property, and an Agreed Order is now in place requiring a Remedial Investigation projected to span at least 12 months, with potential interim actions including soil removal, groundwater remediation, sediment dredging, stormwater conveyance repair, and vapor control. 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.
Ship repair operations at this site began in 1965, more than two decades before occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies stopped reliably covering pollution claims. The contamination linked to those industrial activities — including releases from bunker oil underground storage tanks installed and operated during that pre-1986 window — represents the slow, long-term type of release those historical policies were written to address. The investigation and remediation expenditures now required, including sediment dredging, groundwater remediation, and multi-year oversight costs, could plausibly be funded by historical carriers whose policies were in force when the contamination first originated.
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.
