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 — 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 profile here — petroleum hydrocarbons from underground fuel storage combined with multiple classes of industrial solvents — is consistent with manufacturing operations that may substantially predate 1986, the threshold year after which occurrence-based CGL policies in Washington began routinely including effective pollution exclusions. If the Oberto Sausage facility's tank installations and solvent use trace to that pre-1986 operational period, historical carriers who issued CGL policies during that window may be obligated both to recover documented remediation costs and to fund the ongoing PLIA-program cleanup 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.