This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1965. 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 contamination at this property traces to bus depot operations — engine fluid dumps and petroleum fueling — that an anonymous caller reported to Ecology in 1991 had been ongoing for years prior, and that the installed UST inventory suggests began as early as the mid-1960s. Those operations fall squarely within the window when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The documented cost trail — UST removal, in-situ soil remediation, multi-year groundwater monitoring, and continued hazard assessments — represents expenditures that historical carriers whose policies were in force during those pre-1986 operations may be obligated both to recover and to fund going forward.

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.