This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1889. 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.

The toxic-metal contamination at this site is the direct product of large-scale ore extraction and processing that began in 1889 — nearly a century before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still the industry standard and lacked effective pollution exclusions in Washington. The documented remediation expenditures here — waste excavation and containment, engineered cover construction, and continuing post-cleanup monitoring — represent precisely the long-tail environmental costs that historical CGL carriers may be obligated both to recover and to fund going forward. With active cleanup controls and monitoring still underway, the window for accessing coverage under those pre-1986 policies remains open.

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.