This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1940. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.

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.

Unregulated waste disposal at Landfill B began more than four decades before 1986, the year occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies began incorporating effective pollution exclusions. The deliberate acceptance of all waste types without oversight represents exactly the kind of chronic, undifferentiated release that pre-1986 CGL policies were written to cover. Cleanup expenditures incurred and anticipated here — past contamination removal, capping, and the remediation work still ahead — may be recoverable from historical carriers whose policies were in force during those decades of landfill operation.

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.