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 — 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 heavy-metal contamination at this property traces entirely to industrial discharge that ceased around 1968 — nearly two decades before occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies began carrying effective pollution exclusions. Operators of the Bunker Hill complex and affiliated mining entities who held CGL policies during those decades of active discharge would have been covered under policies that imposed no meaningful bar to pollution claims. The documented remediation expenditures here — sediment excavation, engineered capping, and a continuing long-term monitoring obligation — are costs directly attributable to those pre-1986 operations, establishing a plausible basis for historical carriers to fund or share in their recovery.

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.