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.
This Puyallup property was used as a disposal site for industrial waste from USG's mineral fiber insulation manufacturing plant in Tacoma, with fill activities documented between 1959 and 1971; the Tacoma plant used ASARCO slag as a manufacturing feedstock, and the resulting fill introduced arsenic contamination into the site's soil. In 1985, cleanup crews excavated and disposed of 25,536 tons of industrial waste fill and underlying soil — including 3,500 tons of native soil — followed by site grading. Post-cleanup groundwater monitoring has been ongoing since 1985, and investigation-derived waste from more recent studies has also been removed off-site. 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 arsenic contamination at this property originated from industrial waste disposal operations conducted between 1959 and 1971 — a period when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies had no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law. The documented remediation record here — more than 25,000 tons of contaminated material excavated, decades of groundwater monitoring, and continuing off-site waste disposal from ongoing investigations — represents the kind of long-tail cleanup liability those pre-1986 policies were written to cover. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to USG or affiliated operators during the years the waste-fill operations were active may remain obligated to recover past remediation costs and fund the site's continuing monitoring obligations.
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.
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.
