This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1930. 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 lead contamination at this property traces directly to industrial battery manufacturing conducted nearly six decades before 1986 — the year occurrence-based CGL policies stopped reliably covering pollution claims, and a period when those policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. Operators running a battery manufacturing facility in the early 1930s would have been covered by exactly this class of policy. The documented remediation work — groundwater monitoring infrastructure, soil excavation, and hazardous-material transport and disposal — represents expenditures that historical carriers whose policies were in force during those manufacturing years may be obligated to recover and 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.