This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.
This Tacoma industrial property was operated by Northwest Wire Rope & Equipment for the fueling, lubrication, cleaning, and maintenance of construction equipment, including a gasoline underground storage tank. Cleanup activities in 1991 included removal of the UST and associated contaminated soil, followed by extensive groundwater monitoring conducted under the Voluntary Cleanup Program from at least 1992 through 2002. Petroleum hydrocarbons, lead-contaminated groundwater linked to leaded gasoline, and chlorinated solvents attributed to historical industrial activities have all been identified at the site, and no active cleanup work has since commenced. 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 presence of lead contamination in groundwater here is a definitive marker of pre-1986 operations: leaded gasoline was phased out before that year, placing the active fueling period of the UST squarely within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies had no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. Northwest Wire Rope & Equipment's cleaning and maintenance operations also generated chlorinated solvent contamination traceable to those same historical activities. The investigation, remedial design, and cleanup costs the current property owner faces are precisely the type of expenditures that historical carriers who issued CGL policies during that operational window may be obligated 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.
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.
