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.

Wood treatment operations using pentachlorophenol at this site predate the mid-1980s regulatory phase-outs of that chemical, placing the contamination-generating activity squarely within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The documented cleanup expenditures here — soil excavation and off-site disposal, in-place capping, and continuing annual groundwater monitoring with hazardous-waste management — are costs tied directly to those pre-1986 wood treatment operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during that operational window may bear obligations both to recover costs already incurred and to fund the site's continuing compliance program.

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.