This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1968. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.
This property has been in continuous industrial and disposal use since at least 1968, when silica sand mining began at the site of an earlier coal-mining operation that ran from the early 1900s through 1950. Beginning in 1979, more than 425,000 cubic yards of cement kiln dust (CKD) and inert construction waste were landfilled into the mined-out pits, with the Lower Disposal Area formally closed in 1985 and commercial disposal of inert construction materials continuing to the present under post-closure conditions. A 10,000-gallon diesel underground storage tank was permanently removed in 2020, along with approximately 15 cubic yards of impacted soil. Ongoing obligations include leachate collection, infiltration pond management, and long-term monitoring, as leachate from the CKD landfill areas is discharging with arsenic, lead, and pH levels that exceed cleanup thresholds. 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 contamination driving this site's cleanup originated directly from CKD landfill operations that began in 1979 and expanded into additional disposal areas in 1982 — well within the period when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The arsenic and lead exceedances in the leachate plume, and the decades of capping, monitoring, and interim-action costs, are traceable to releases tied to those pre-1986 operations. Carriers who issued CGL policies to the operators of this disposal facility during the 1979–1985 window may remain obligated to fund both the remediation work already completed and the ongoing cleanup the site will require.
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.
