This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1960. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has operated as a natural gas metering station since at least the early 1960s, when mercury-based meters and thermowells were installed to monitor gas pressure fluctuations and calculate pipeline delivery volumes. Mercury contamination from that metering equipment was first addressed in 1990 with the removal of two drums of impacted material; a more extensive excavation followed in 2011, removing 41.43 tons of soil that was disposed of off-site, with the excavated areas subsequently backfilled with clean material and restored with a gravel cover. The site has received a No Further Action determination under the Voluntary Cleanup Program. 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.
Mercury meters at this station were in active operation from the early 1960s until phased out in the mid-to-late 1980s — the precise window during which occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The gradual migration of mercury from metering equipment into the surrounding soils is the type of slow, continuous release those policies were written to cover. The documented remediation expenditures — drum removal, excavation and off-site disposal of over 41 tons of contaminated soil, and site restoration — are tied directly to releases that occurred while pre-1986 CGL policies were in force, and the historical carriers who issued those policies may still be obligated to respond.
Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful cost recovery claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage for costs already incurred. Restorical's forensic accounting team works to re-establish and document past cleanup expenditures, ensuring the strongest possible basis for recovery.
Recovering Costs from an Older Cleanup
If this site reached No Further Action years ago, the original cleanup expenditures may be difficult to reconstruct. Restorical's forensic accounting team specializes in re-establishing and documenting past cleanup costs — even decades later — to build the strongest possible basis for an insurance recovery claim.
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.
