This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1941. 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.

Industrial operations at this site — smelting, incineration, battery processing, and heavy-metal handling — began in the early 1940s and continued for more than four decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still lacked effective pollution exclusions in Washington State. The PCB and heavy-metal contamination documented here originated from those long-running pre-1986 operations, not from any discrete recent incident. With $4.21 million in projected cleanup costs — major soil excavation, groundwater treatment, long-term monitoring, and site closure still ahead — historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the salvage yard's operational window may be obligated to recover expenditures already incurred and to fund remediation yet to come.

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.