This property has a documented history as a public works and maintenance facility predating 1986. 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 here is traceable to the City of Snohomish's municipal wastewater treatment operations — a publicly owned treatment works the City utilities department ran for decades before 1986, generating the biosolids and contaminated soils later deposited in this lagoon. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to the City during those pre-1986 WWTP operations were written without the pollution exclusions that became standard after 1986, and the documented costs of this cleanup — engineered cap construction, gas venting, dike armoring, and a continuing O&M and monitoring program — arose directly from that historical municipal operation. Historical carriers who covered the City's utilities department during that pre-1986 period may remain obligated to fund both past remediation expenditures and ongoing closure costs.

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.