This property has a documented history as a public works and maintenance facility predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations 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.

Electrical substations are major grid infrastructure with operational lifespans spanning decades, and Puget Power operated substations across western Washington well before 1986 — the year occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies stopped reliably covering pollution claims. CGL policies issued to Puget Power during that pre-1986 operational window had no effective pollution exclusion and remain enforceable in Washington. The cleanup costs this property now faces — investigation and remediation of PCB and petroleum hydrocarbon contamination in groundwater — could plausibly be funded by historical carriers whose policies were in effect during the substation's early decades of 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.