This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1938. 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 industrial operations responsible for the cadmium and petroleum hydrocarbon contamination here date to the late 1930s — nearly five decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still covered pollution claims without effective exclusions. Machine shops and plating companies operating across that pre-1986 span were the precise class of businesses those policies were written to cover, and the slow, diffuse releases characteristic of such operations are exactly what those policy forms addressed. With active remediation yet to begin, historical carriers whose policies were in force during these operations may be obligated to fund the cleanup costs the property now faces.

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.