This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1959. 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 here — arsenic-enriched industrial fill deposited between 1971 and 1973 — predates 1986 by more than a decade, placing it within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. USG and its predecessors operated the Tacoma manufacturing plant throughout that pre-1986 window and arranged for the fill disposal that created the contamination; CGL policies issued to those operators during those years remain potentially enforceable today. The site's documented remediation costs — the 1984–1985 excavation of tens of thousands of cubic yards, years of subsequent investigation, and anticipated future remediation — are precisely the category of liability those historical carriers may be obligated to fund.

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.