This property has a documented history as a auto body / repair shop predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.
Pull A Part Wrecking — also operating as Ferrills Auto Parts Lynnwood Inc. — is a self-service auto wrecking yard at 18306 Highway 99 in Lynnwood, where customers remove parts directly from stored vehicles, generating uncontained spills of automotive fluids and heavy oils throughout the car storage yard. Observed conditions include visibly stained soil at numerous locations across the site, including beneath parked vehicles, and analytical sampling has confirmed lead concentrations in soil of 107 to 172 mg/Kg. Initial containment measures have been put in place — blocking a site spillway with a silt fence and strawbales and routing drainage through an oil/water separator — but no formal remediation has commenced. 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 lead concentrations confirmed in soil at this site are consistent with accumulated contamination from the leaded-gasoline era, pointing to operational practices that predate the 1986 phase-out and the effective elimination of pollution coverage from Commercial General Liability policies. Widespread soil staining and heavy metal loading of the kind documented here reflects years of historical operational practices rather than any single recent event, precisely the pattern of slow, ongoing release that pre-1986 occurrence-based CGL policies were written to cover. The characterization and remediation costs this property now faces could plausibly be funded by historical carriers whose policies were in force when that contamination first began accumulating.
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.
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.
