This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1904. 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.

The contamination at this property — explosive ordnance compounds, petroleum hydrocarbons from underground storage tanks, and PFAS — originates from nearly six decades of industrial ammunition-depot operations that concluded in 1959, decades before the 1986 threshold at which occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies ceased to reliably cover pollution claims. Carriers who issued CGL policies to operators conducting ordnance production and industrial demilitarization at this facility during that pre-1986 window had no effective pollution exclusion and may remain obligated under those policies today. The $600,000 in documented investigation expenditures, combined with ongoing remediation across multiple contaminated areas, reflects a cost trail that historical carriers may be required both to recover and to fund as cleanup proceeds.

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.