This property has a documented history as a farm and agricultural operation going back to 1902. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Greenhouse operations at this property date to 1902, with older greenhouse structures constructed in the 1950s and pesticide mixing activities documented since at least the 1960s. The site's petroleum storage infrastructure — a heating oil underground storage tank, two aboveground storage tanks, and a 1,000-gallon gasoline UST — was installed well before 1986. In 2004, the heating oil UST and ASTs were removed along with approximately 250 cubic yards of petroleum-contaminated soil. Investigation under the Voluntary Cleanup Program confirmed groundwater contamination with petroleum products and multiple pesticides — Diflufenzopyr, Imazalacloprid, Metalaxyl, and Pendimethalin — as well as Chlorpyrifos, Diflufenzopyr, and Pendimethalin in the on-site stormwater detention pond, and the site received a No Further Action determination in 2016. 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.
Petroleum storage and pesticide use at this site began decades before 1986 — greenhouse operations trace to 1902 and pesticide mixing was documented from at least the 1960s. The contamination found in groundwater and surface water is directly attributable to those long-running pre-1986 operations. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to the site's operators during that extensive pre-1986 window carried no effective pollution exclusion and remain enforceable in Washington. The documented remediation expenditures — UST removals, soil excavation, investigation, and monitoring — are costs the historical carriers who insured those 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.
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.