This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1970. 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.

The contamination documented here — arsenic, chromium, lead, petroleum hydrocarbons, carcinogenic PAHs, and pentachlorophenol — is consistent with long-running industrial maintenance activity that traces to structures built in 1970, more than fifteen years before occurrence-based CGL policies stopped reliably covering pollution claims. The site's multiple historical recognized environmental conditions confirm a long-standing contamination basis tied to those pre-1986 operations. The investigation, remediation design, and disposal costs the property owner now faces could plausibly be funded by historical carriers whose policies were in force during the facility's operational window.

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.