This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1957. 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.

Electroplating and solvent-degreasing operations at this site using TCE and plating metals ran for nearly three decades before 1986 — the threshold year after which occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies began carrying effective pollution exclusions. The contamination documented here is expressly characterized as the product of gradual, incremental releases during routine operations across that long pre-1986 window, which is precisely the pattern those older policies were written to address. Documented remediation expenditures spanning more than thirty years — including soil and tank excavation, hazardous waste removal, active vapor extraction, bioremediation, and ongoing groundwater monitoring — represent costs that historical carriers whose CGL policies were in force between 1957 and 1986 may be obligated to fund, with active remediation still underway.

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.