This property has a documented history as a public works and maintenance 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.

The contamination at this site traces to pre-1986 operations across multiple distinct pathways: gasoline recovered from UST#1 tested at 12,000 mg/kg lead, indicating fuel dispensed well before the phase-out of leaded gasoline, and organochlorine pesticides — DDT, DDE, Heptachlor, and gamma-BHC — reflect applications from an era when these compounds were in common use before regulatory restrictions took hold in the 1970s. Arsenic and lead contamination tied to the Tacoma Smelter Plume adds a further pre-1986 contamination layer rooted in the Asarco smelter's historical operations. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to the operators and lessors of this property during those decades had no effective pollution exclusion and may be enforceable today to fund the substantial ongoing and anticipated future remediation costs this site will incur.

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.