This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1977. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Between 1977 and 1978, an estimated 50,000 cubic yards of cement kiln dust (CKD) reportedly sourced from Ideal Cement were placed on this parcel as fill, along with approximately 1,000 cubic yards of soil designated as dangerous waste due to its lead content. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included excavation and disposal of the dangerous waste soil, removal of CKD from the site and adjacent Hamm Creek banks, and permanent capping of residual CKD beneath buildings and paved areas under a Restrictive Covenant. A five-year groundwater and surface water monitoring program ran from 2001 through 2006, and the Restrictive Covenant remains subject to periodic five-year reviews. The site has reached No Further Action status. 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.
The contamination here — lead and arsenic released from cement kiln dust fill — originated from disposal operations conducted entirely in 1977 and 1978, nearly a decade before 1986. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies in force during that operational window had no effective pollution exclusion and remain enforceable against historical carriers today. The documented remediation expenditures — dangerous waste excavation, creek-bank CKD removal, permanent capping infrastructure, and years of monitored natural attenuation — are directly traceable to those pre-1986 fill events, creating a concrete basis for recovery against carriers whose policies were in effect when the contamination was introduced.
Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful cost recovery claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage for costs already incurred. Restorical's forensic accounting team works to re-establish and document past cleanup expenditures, ensuring the strongest possible basis for recovery.
Recovering Costs from an Older Cleanup
If this site reached No Further Action years ago, the original cleanup expenditures may be difficult to reconstruct. Restorical's forensic accounting team specializes in re-establishing and documenting past cleanup costs — even decades later — to build the strongest possible basis for an insurance recovery claim.
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.
