This property has a documented history as a farm and agricultural operation going back to 1940. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.

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 contamination here is explicitly documented as a remnant of historical agri-chemical operations spanning from at least 1940 through 1992 — covering the entire pre-1986 period when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. EDB's 1984 ban confirms that the compound was in active use at this property for decades before modern pollution-exclusion language became routine, placing the contamination-causing operations squarely within those historical carriers' coverage windows. The site's documented remediation expenditures — excavation, vapor extraction, years of remedial investigation, monitoring, and ongoing groundwater controls — represent costs the historical carriers may be obligated both to recover and to fund going forward.

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.