This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1982. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
The Recycled Aluminum Metals Company (RAMCO) operated an unlined landfill at this Dallesport Industrial Park property from 1982 through 1989, depositing byproducts from its aluminum smelting process — including dross (salt cake), baghouse dust, and spent pot lining. Cleanup activities spanning at least 2007 through 2015 included excavation and removal of over 88,000 tons of aluminum waste, on-site treatment through screening, crushing, and aeration, off-site disposal and recycling, installation and long-term groundwater monitoring, site security measures, backfilling and final erosion-control cover, and the implementation of an environmental covenant restricting future groundwater use. The site received a No Further Action determination following completion of those remediation steps. 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.
RAMCO's waste disposal operations at this unlined landfill began in 1982, placing the first four years of deposition squarely within the pre-1986 window when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The contamination here resulted not from a sudden incident but from years of industrial waste accumulation — the kind of continuous, gradual release that pre-1986 CGL policies were written to address. The documented remediation expenditures — excavation and treatment of more than 88,000 tons of hazardous aluminum waste, long-term groundwater monitoring, and a permanent restrictive covenant — represent costs that historical carriers whose policies were in effect during the 1982–1986 operational window may be obligated to recover.
Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful cost recovery claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage for costs already incurred. Restorical's forensic accounting team works to re-establish and document past cleanup expenditures, ensuring the strongest possible basis for recovery.
Recovering Costs from an Older Cleanup
If this site reached No Further Action years ago, the original cleanup expenditures may be difficult to reconstruct. Restorical's forensic accounting team specializes in re-establishing and documenting past cleanup costs — even decades later — to build the strongest possible basis for an insurance recovery claim.
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
Ready to learn more?
Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
