This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1960. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property was the site of Stark Aquatic Systems (formerly San Juan Pools), a fiberglass fabrication facility that manufactured fiberglass-reinforced plastic products — including swimming pools, pool accessories, and industrial pressure filtration vessels — since the 1960s. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included excavation of 53 cubic yards of styrene-contaminated soil and 100 cubic yards of diesel-contaminated soil, removal of four underground fuel storage tanks totaling 11,000 gallons, asbestos abatement, building demolition, and closure of a hand-dug water supply well. The site has received a No Further Action determination from Ecology. 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.
Contamination at this property — styrene from decades of fiberglass fabrication and diesel fuel from underground storage tanks — resulted from operations that began in the 1960s, well before the 1986 shift away from occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies. The documented remediation costs spanning UST removals, soil excavation, onsite bioremediation, asbestos abatement, and building demolition are expenditures tied directly to releases from that pre-1986 operational period. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the facility's operators during those years may still be obligated to recover those cleanup costs.
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.