This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility predating 1986. 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 at this property — No. 6 fuel oil and associated heavy petroleum products — originated from fuel storage infrastructure that, by the site's own records, predates the contamination's 2016 discovery by a substantial margin, placing its origin squarely in the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. Operators and property owners holding pre-1986 CGL coverage during the period that historical tankage was in active use may retain enforceable claims against those historical carriers today. The cleanup costs still ahead — active remediation of the remaining petroleum-impacted areas — represent expenditures that such policies 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.