This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1967. 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.

Landfill operations at this site ran from 1967 to 1975 — more than a decade before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The contamination documented here — vinyl chloride, toluene, and methane produced by the slow decomposition of buried household and agricultural waste — is precisely the type of gradual, continuing release those pre-1986 policies were written to address. The remediation expenditures the responsible parties now face — excavation, groundwater interception, gas collection, cap construction, and long-term monitoring — may be recoverable from historical carriers whose policies were in force during the years Skagit County operated the landfill.

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.