This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.

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 petroleum contamination here originated from long-standing fabrication and vehicle maintenance practices in areas where secondary containment was incomplete — a pattern of operational exposure consistent with pre-1986 industrial norms, not a recent spill or newly installed infrastructure. Site documents explicitly exclude recently installed above-ground storage tanks as the contamination source, pointing instead to an older, historical operational origin. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to operators during that pre-1986 window carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington and may remain enforceable today. The costs now facing the property — soil excavation, groundwater monitoring campaigns, and onsite waste disposal — represent precisely the category of cleanup liability those historical policies were written 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.