This property has a documented history as an industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1920. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could help fund the cleanup that lies ahead.
This industrial property has been used for the manufacture, storage, and shipping of roofing materials since the early 1920s, with Pacific Roofing Company developing it as a roofing products manufacturing facility in the mid-to-late 1930s and subsequent ownership by Bird & Son and then GS Roofing. Extensive contamination — including metals, PAHs, petroleum hydrocarbons, PCBs, dioxins and furans, and pesticides — has been confirmed in groundwater, stormwater, sediment in Saltzman Creek and the Willamette River, and pore water, placing the property within the Portland Harbor Superfund Site. A 775-page Source Control Evaluation report was submitted to Oregon DEQ in February 2022 and remains under evaluation, with EPA's 2017 Record of Decision identifying the riverbank for further remedial action under CERCLA authority and the source control decision still pending. That history could support an insurance coverage claim against the carriers who issued policies more than 40 years ago — coverage that could help fund the cleanup ahead.
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 Oregon — and those policies may provide coverage that remains enforceable today. 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.
Industrial roofing manufacturing at this property began in the early 1920s and continued for decades, producing contamination across groundwater, stormwater, creek and river sediment, and pore water well before 1986. The investigation, source control, and remediation work that lies ahead — governed by both EPA CERCLA authority over the riverbank and the DEQ/EPA Joint Source Control Strategy for stormwater and groundwater — represents substantial future costs that historical pre-1986 carriers whose policies were in effect during those decades of roofing operations 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
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.