This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1951. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.

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.

Sawmill operations at this property — including diesel storage and fueling infrastructure — began in 1951 and ran for more than three decades before 1986, when occurrence-based CGL policies still carried no effective pollution exclusion. The five on-site USTs were installed well before that cutoff, and contamination is attributed to historical operations both here and at an east-adjacent leaded-gasoline site, all of which predate the modern pollution-exclusion era. The documented and planned remediation expenditures — UST removals, soil excavation, groundwater remediation, and vapor intrusion mitigation — represent costs that historical carriers may be obligated both to recover and to fund going forward.

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.