This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1890. 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 arsenic, cadmium, lead, and zinc found in these sediments trace directly to mining and waste-discharge practices that ran continuously from the late 1800s through approximately 1968 — a span of industrial operations ending nearly two decades before occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies began incorporating effective pollution exclusions in 1986. That decades-long discharge constitutes exactly the kind of gradual, pre-1986 release that occurrence-based CGL policies were written to cover. Historical carriers who issued policies to operators in the Bunker Hill mining chain during those discharge years may still bear obligations toward the sediment excavation, capping, and long-term monitoring costs accumulated at this site.

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.