This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1972. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Wasser & Winters Company leased this Tacoma waterfront property from 1972 through November 1984 for log storage and sorting. During that period, slag from the ASARCO ore smelting facility in Ruston, Washington was placed on the site as ballast, introducing metals contamination across an estimated 18,500 cubic yards of soil and slag. Remediation was accomplished through a cap system and surface water collection, supplemented by monitoring wells, a restrictive covenant, and a five-year review cycle. The site has reached No Further Action status under the 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.
The metals contamination here originated entirely from industrial operations conducted between 1972 and 1984 — well within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The cap system, surface water controls, monitoring infrastructure, restrictive covenant, and long-term review obligations represent documented remediation expenditures tied directly to that pre-1986 log-sort and slag-placement activity. Historical CGL carriers whose policies covered operations at this site during the 1972–1984 lease period may retain obligations for the costs incurred to contain and monitor that contamination.
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.
Recovering Costs from an Older Cleanup
If this site reached No Further Action years ago, the original cleanup expenditures may be difficult to reconstruct. Restorical's forensic accounting team specializes in re-establishing and documenting past cleanup costs — even decades later — to build the strongest possible basis for an insurance recovery claim.
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.
