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

Contamination at this property traces to multiple pre-1986 source categories: petroleum releases from underground storage tanks in operation before 1981, and pentachlorophenol and chlorinated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contamination from the established practice of cutting and storing preservative-treated power poles on the premises. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to PSE during those operational decades had no effective pollution exclusion and may remain enforceable today. The documented remediation expenditures — UST removals, dual-stream soil excavation targeting both petroleum and wood-preservative impacts, and groundwater recovery — are all traceable to operations that predate the 1986 policy-form shift, leaving historical carriers potentially obligated for a share of those costs and for future cleanup funding.

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.