This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1957. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property 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.

Refinery operations at this property began nearly three decades before 1986, placing the origin of contamination squarely within the era when occurrence-based CGL policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The metals and petroleum contamination now confirmed in groundwater and surface water traces back to tank infrastructure and industrial processes that predate that threshold by decades. The investigation, design, and remediation costs this facility faces — for a site with multiple affected media and a nearly seventy-year operational history — could plausibly be recoverable under historical CGL policies issued to the operators during those pre-1986 years of continuous refinery operation.

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.