This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility predating 1986. 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 industrial contamination documented at this property — metals and both organic and inorganic conventional contaminants in groundwater and surface water — is consistent with extended industrial operations by a company whose corporate history dates to 1899. While the available site records do not specify when operations at this Anacortes facility began, that contamination profile and General Chemical Corporation's long industrial tenure provide a basis for investigating whether historical CGL carriers covered operations here before 1986. If such coverage existed, costs incurred for the site's environmental assessment and characterization could be recoverable.

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.