This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1974. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
The Corliss Wood Waste Landfill operated without permits on this Puyallup property from approximately May 1974 through November 1976, disposing of wood waste materials that contaminated soil and groundwater with arsenic, polar compounds, and methane. Through the Voluntary Cleanup Program, excavation and in-situ solidification were evaluated but set aside in favor of institutional controls and long-term groundwater monitoring to manage the dissolved arsenic plume and restrict groundwater use, with provisions for methane mitigation required for any future structures on the property. The preferred remedial alternative was estimated at $179,000, and the site has received a No Further Action determination under that plan. 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 Corliss Wood Waste Landfill's roughly 30-month operating window — May 1974 through November 1976 — places the entire contaminating operation squarely before 1986, spanning parts of three calendar years during which wood waste disposal generated the arsenic plume and methane accumulation that persist today. The liability trail from those years remains open-ended: the arsenic contamination requires indefinite groundwater monitoring, and any future development on the property triggers an obligation for methane mitigation — costs tied directly to a pre-1986 unpermitted landfill. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the landfill operators or property owners during that 1974–1976 window may remain obligated to fund the monitoring costs already incurred and the mitigation costs that future site development will require.
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
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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.
