This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1918. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property 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 contamination at this property — petroleum hydrocarbons, metals including lead, and oily industrial waste — is directly traceable to operations that span more than six decades before 1986, when occurrence-based CGL policies were still the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. Lead, identified as a contaminant of concern in soil, is an independent marker anchoring the contamination origin firmly to the pre-1986 operational era. The documented remediation expenditures to date — removal of over 2,600 tons of impacted soil, oily waste disposal, groundwater monitoring, and institutional controls — represent costs that historical carriers whose policies covered this property during its long industrial history may be obligated both to recover and to fund as offshore investigation proceeds.

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.