This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1954. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.

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.

Equipment maintenance and scrap metal sorting operations at this property began more than three decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. Activities of that kind — fuel and lubricant handling for heavy equipment, metals processing — are directly associated with the petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals identified at the site. A No Further Action designation does not erase the historical liability trail, and carriers who issued CGL coverage during the Seattle Disposal Company's operating years may still be obligated to recover past investigation and remediation expenditures.

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.