This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1955. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property was used as a disposal site for waste batteries during the middle to late 1950s, with battery casings and lead plates buried in a field to depths exceeding 20 feet. Following a complaint to Washington State Department of Ecology in January 1992, Mr. Martir excavated the adjacent property using a backhoe to uncover and remove the buried battery casings and lead plates. The site has since received a No Further Action determination under Standard Cleanup. 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 battery disposal that generated contamination at this site occurred in the mid-1950s — more than three decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still in wide use and lacked effective pollution exclusions. Lead contamination from buried battery casings is precisely the type of slow, undiscovered release those pre-1986 policies were structured to cover. Historical carriers whose CGL policies were in force during the 1950s disposal period may bear obligation for the excavation and remediation costs incurred to address that release.
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.
