This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property 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.

Contamination at this refinery originated from decades of petroleum processing operations that were well underway before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The scale of the documented remediation obligation — soil excavation, groundwater treatment, and years of ongoing monitoring backed by nearly $30 million in financial assurance — reflects the kind of long-tail environmental liability those historical policies were designed to cover. Carriers that issued CGL coverage during the refinery's pre-1986 operational window may be obligated both to reimburse remediation costs already incurred and to fund the cleanup work still ahead.

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.