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.

UPS has maintained operations in the Tacoma and Pierce County area since the early 1900s, and the petroleum contamination at this facility — benzene and gasoline from underground storage tanks — is consistent with decades of vehicle fueling operations predating 1986. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies issued during that pre-1986 operational window carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington and remain enforceable today. The remediation expenditures required to bring this site's groundwater to below cleanup levels represent costs that historical carriers who wrote those policies may still be obligated to cover.

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.