This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal going back to 1904. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
This Bremerton property has been in continuous industrial use since 1904, beginning as a sawmill (1904–1918), then a lumber yard (1920–1940), followed by Lofthus's bulk fuel storage operation with aboveground storage tanks from 1940 through 1999 — with concurrent sheet metal and painting operations on site from the late 1940s through the 1970s. Investigations have identified metals priority pollutants, petroleum products including TPH-diesel and TPH-oil above MTCA cleanup levels, and non-halogenated solvents in groundwater, with contaminated groundwater discharging to Smith Cove. Cleanup is underway under Washington's Standard Cleanup program. 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.
Nearly a century of industrial operations at this property — bulk fuel storage, metal fabrication, painting — predates 1986 by decades, placing the facility squarely within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The contamination now requiring remediation — petroleum hydrocarbons, metals, and solvents in groundwater and surface water — traces to operations that ran continuously through the coverage window of those historical policies. Carriers who insured the site's operators from the 1940s through the mid-1980s may be obligated to fund both past remediation costs and the ongoing cleanup.
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.
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.