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 in Kent's Orillia Industrial District was developed beginning around 1960 using fill material brought in from an industrial site, introducing diesel- and oil-range petroleum hydrocarbons into the soil. Under the Voluntary Cleanup Program, a 1999 remediation effort excavated and bioremediated 20,000 cubic yards of petroleum-impacted soil. Subsequent groundwater and surface water sampling confirmed no ongoing threat to either, and Ecology review closed out the project with a No Further Action determination by 2003. 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 petroleum contamination here did not originate from an accident at this property — it was imported via industrial fill material deposited decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. A Level II investigation in 1996 documented contamination consistent with that historical fill practice, establishing a contamination origin tied directly to pre-1986 industrial activity. The remediation expenditures incurred — excavation and bioremediation of 20,000 cubic yards of soil, multi-year monitoring, and Ecology review — represent costs that historical CGL carriers whose policies were in force during that era may still be obligated to recover.
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.
