This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1946. 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.

Weldcraft's boatyard operations began in 1946 — forty years before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The contamination here is consistently characterized as the product of long-term, cumulative operational releases rather than any single discrete event, the exact liability profile those historical policies were written to cover. Carriers who issued CGL coverage to Weldcraft or its predecessors during the decades of pre-1986 operation may remain obligated to fund the remediation costs now accumulating at this site.

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.