This property has a documented history as a public works and maintenance facility going back to 1906. 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 documented here — lead, petroleum hydrocarbons, chlorinated solvents, and creosote — is the direct result of routine maintenance operations that began more than eight decades before 1986, the year occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies stopped reliably covering pollution claims. Carriers that issued CGL policies to the facility's operators during that pre-1986 window wrote those policies under forms with no effective pollution exclusion in Washington State. The soil excavation, dewatering, and hazardous-waste disposal costs now contemplated represent expenditures that those historical carriers may still be obligated to fund.

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.