This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1968. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Sun Chemical Corporation operated as a chemical distribution company at Northwest Corporate Park in Kent, a large industrial complex whose development and tenant operations date to the late 1960s. In 1990, a large ink spill from a rail car occurred at the Sun Chemical facility; remediation the following year included excavation of 270 cubic yards of ink-contaminated soil and 40 cubic yards of diesel-contaminated soil. A 10,000-gallon underground storage tank containing diesel or gasoline had been removed separately in 1989, and the site has since received a No Further Action determination under the Standard Cleanup program. That history could support an insurance cost recovery claim against carriers who issued insurance policies 40+ years ago.
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 property extend back at least to the late 1960s, and the underground storage tank removed in 1989 had been installed and in active use well before 1986 — when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and contained no effective pollution exclusion. The documented remediation expenditures here — UST removal, ink-contaminated soil excavation, and diesel-impacted soil removal — were incurred to address releases tied directly to pre-1986 chemical distribution and industrial operations at the complex. Historical CGL carriers who issued policies to Sun Chemical or other operators at this facility during that pre-1986 window may still bear obligations to recover those cleanup costs.
Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful cost recovery claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage for costs already incurred. Restorical's forensic accounting team works to re-establish and document past cleanup expenditures, ensuring the strongest possible basis for recovery.
Recovering Costs from an Older Cleanup
If this site reached No Further Action years ago, the original cleanup expenditures may be difficult to reconstruct. Restorical's forensic accounting team specializes in re-establishing and documenting past cleanup costs — even decades later — to build the strongest possible basis for an insurance recovery claim.
What We Look For
- Historical insurance policies (pre-1986)
- Policy numbers, carrier names, and coverage periods
- Connection between contamination timing and policy period
- Evidence linking cleanup obligation to insured activity
What We Deliver
- Historical Coverage Chart
- Trigger Analysis & Property/Policy Nexus
- Coverage strategy with recommendations
- Insurance funding for your remediation
- Claims Management & Forensic Accounting
The Restorical Proven Process
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Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
