This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1950. 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.

Contamination at this property — PCBs, lead, petroleum-based waste streams, and asbestos — was the product of decades of salvage and recycling operations that began well before 1986, the year occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies ceased to reliably cover pollution claims. The pre-1986 policies issued to operators of facilities like this one carried no effective pollution exclusion and remain potentially enforceable today. The documented remediation costs — 14,000 tons of excavated material and an $807,000 projected future cleanup — represent expenditures that historical carriers may be obligated both to recover and to 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.