This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1913. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.

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 here — petroleum residues, heavy oil, and lead — traces directly to drum reconditioning practices that were ongoing decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies routinely lacked effective pollution exclusions. The contamination was the product of continuous industrial operations dating to 1913, not an isolated spill, making it precisely the type of long-running release those pre-1986 CGL policies were written to address. The costs now facing this property — hazard assessment, remedial design, and excavation of over 100 cubic yards of impacted soil — could plausibly be funded by historical carriers whose policies were in force during the decades of pre-1986 operations.

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.