This property has a documented history as a landfill predating 1986. 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 volatile organic compound contamination documented at this landfill — in both landfill gas and underlying groundwater — originated from landfill operations that predate the mid-1990s monitoring record, placing the causative activities squarely within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the landfill operator and its predecessors during that pre-1986 operational window may still bear obligations for the documented remediation expenditures, including Trench 1 cover placement, LFG collection system construction and operation, gas extraction infrastructure, and decades of ongoing monitoring.

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.