This property has a documented history as a landfill going back to 1942. 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.

Forty years of hazardous waste disposal and landfill operations on Bradford Island — from 1942 through 1982 — fell entirely within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The PCB contamination now confirmed in sediments and groundwater traces directly to those decades of pre-1986 disposal activities. Superfund-scale remediation costs, already accumulating as cleanup proceeds, represent expenditures that historical carriers may be obligated both to recover 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.