This property has a documented history as a landfill predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.

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 Orting Landfill belongs to a generation of Pierce County municipal dumpsites, most of which closed before modern solid waste regulations took effect in 1985 — placing their operational windows squarely within the era of occurrence-based CGL policies that carried no effective pollution exclusion. The range of suspected groundwater contaminants here — arsenic, lead, mercury, PCBs, asbestos — points to decades of unrestricted waste acceptance typical of pre-regulation municipal landfills. With cleanup still ahead, the investigation, design, and remediation costs the City of Orting faces could plausibly be funded by historical carriers whose policies were in effect during the landfill's active operations.

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.