This property has a documented history as a landfill predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This Kitsap County property operated as the Rural Garbage Service Landfill, accumulating refuse over an extended period that predates 1986. In July 2002, an independent remedial action excavated and disposed of 10,537.50 tons of refuse and soil and removed 1,575 gallons of liquid waste and sludge. Ecology has determined that no further remedial action is necessary. 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.
A landfill accumulating more than 10,000 tons of refuse is the product of years — likely decades — of continuous waste disposal operations, placing the contamination origin squarely within the era when occurrence-based CGL policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The 2002 remediation costs — excavation of over 10,500 tons of refuse and soil, plus liquid waste removal — represent documented cleanup expenditures tied directly to that long-running pre-1986 disposal activity. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the operators during those years may retain obligations to contribute to those incurred 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.
