This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1970. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.

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 groundwater contamination at this property — PCBs, PAHs, and petroleum hydrocarbons — traces directly to landfill fill operations conducted throughout the 1970s, more than a decade before 1986. Occurrence-based CGL policies in effect during that fill period carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington and remain enforceable today. The investigation and remediation costs incurred to bring this former landfill site through the Voluntary Cleanup Program to a No Further Action determination are expenditures that historical carriers who covered the property during the 1970s operations may be obligated to recover.

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.