This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1928. 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.

The landfill accepted municipal solid waste — including materials containing DDT, which was broadly banned in the United States in 1972 — across more than five decades of operation that ended before the 1986 pollution-exclusion watershed. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to the City of Shelton during those pre-1986 operational years had no effective pollution exclusion and remain enforceable today. The remediation construction that brought the site to its current monitoring phase, and the continuing performance-monitoring obligations ahead, represent costs that historical carriers who insured the landfill's operations may 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.