This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1978. 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 contamination pathway at this site — leachate migrating from a mixed-waste disposal operation into surrounding groundwater and surface water — originated during landfill operations that closed in 1984, before 1986 brought effective pollution exclusions into standard CGL policy language. Operators and property owners who held occurrence-based CGL policies during the landfill's active years and the early leachate-management period may carry coverage obligations that remain enforceable today. The documented remediation expenditures — leachate control infrastructure, soil excavation, site capping, and more than two decades of active cleanup — are the type of costs historical carriers may be obligated both to recover and to fund going forward.

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.