This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1925. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
The Swenson Property has been in continuous industrial use since 1925, hosting a pickle factory in the 1930s, a ski factory by 1950, and decades of freezer and light machine manufacturing by Swenson Enterprises through the early 2000s; current tenants include printing and plastics molding operations. Voluntary Cleanup Program work included the excavation and removal of three underground storage tanks, six 55-gallon drums, and 295.6 tons of petroleum-impacted soil, as well as extraction of 3,200 gallons of contaminated groundwater, followed by natural attenuation monitoring for petroleum hydrocarbons. Separate areas of the property continue to require ongoing monitoring for chlorinated solvents and arsenic. The site has received a No Further Action determination for the petroleum remediation. 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.
The petroleum contamination remediated here traces directly to underground storage tanks documented in a 1985 site plan that had been unused since at least the 1970s — placing their operational period squarely within the era of occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies. Those pre-1986 policies carried no effective pollution exclusion and remain enforceable against historical carriers. The documented remediation costs — tank and drum removal, excavation of nearly 300 tons of impacted soil, groundwater extraction, and years of monitoring — represent expenditures tied to industrial infrastructure that predates 1986, making historical CGL policies a plausible recovery avenue.
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.
