This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1965. 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.

Machine shop operations at this facility began around 1965 — more than two decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The contamination documented in groundwater and surface water here — halogenated organics, metals, petroleum products, and solvents — is consistent with decades of industrial use at a site whose operations long predated the modern pollution-exclusion era. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the facility's pre-1986 operational window may still be obligated to cover the remediation costs incurred at this site.

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.