This property has a documented history as a public works and maintenance facility going back to 1955. 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.

Contamination at this site — petroleum hydrocarbons from heating oil and gasoline USTs and creosote compounds from original foundation piles — traces directly to facility infrastructure installed in 1955, more than three decades before occurrence-based CGL policies gave way to claims-made forms with pollution exclusions. The documented remediation expenditures spanning from 1993 through the present, with bioremediation work still ahead, represent costs that historical carriers who covered the facility during those pre-1986 operational decades may be obligated both to reimburse and to fund going forward.

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.