This property has a documented history as a landfill 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.

Contamination at this site traces to dumping and fueling operations that began in the 1940s and continued through facility use predating 1986 — squarely within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. More than three decades of documented remediation expenditures — tank removals, soil excavation, groundwater treatment, long-term monitoring, and institutional controls still being finalized — represent costs tied to releases that originated under those historical policies. The carriers who issued CGL coverage during that operational window may be obligated both to recover past cleanup costs and to fund the remediation work that remains ahead.

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.