This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1968. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property was operated as a sand and gravel borrow pit from the late 1960s through the late 1970s or early 1980s, after which the excavated area was backfilled from the 1980s into the early 1990s with construction debris and waste cement material drawn from numerous facilities across the Puget Sound region. That disposal history left petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals in the soil and groundwater. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program addressed the contamination through engineering controls — soil cover, asphalt, concrete, and building structures placed over impacted soil — along with a restrictive covenant prohibiting groundwater use, mandated long-term maintenance of those barriers, and multi-year compliance groundwater monitoring. The site has reached No Further Action status. 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 contamination here is the direct product of waste disposal operations that began in the late 1960s, nearly two decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies routinely covered pollution claims and lacked effective exclusions. Operators and contractors who deposited construction debris and waste cement at this site during that pre-1986 window were insured under policies written on those terms. The documented remediation costs — engineered barriers, institutional controls, and years of groundwater monitoring — represent expenditures that historical carriers whose policies were in force during those disposal operations may now be obligated to fund.
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.
