This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.
This property in Mukilteo operated as the Western Hydroblaster facility, performing industrial stripping and refinishing of heavy equipment using silicon sand in a high-pressure water jet system. By 1990, Ecology had received a complaint about sandblast grit being dumped on adjacent property and oil stored in five-gallon buckets on site; short-term protection measures that year included removal of 5–10 cubic yards of sandblast grit and tightlining the sandblast area to a catchbasin. A silkscreening business that had previously discharged process wastewater to an on-site drainfield also implemented a closed-loop system to halt further discharge. No active remediation of the underlying contamination has yet commenced. 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 heavy metal and hydrocarbon contamination at this site originated from sandblasting operations and industrial wastewater discharges that were ongoing well before 1986, the threshold year for occurrence-based CGL policies that carried no effective pollution exclusion. The silkscreening business that discharged wastewater to a drainfield for many years prior to 1986 represents a second, independently insured contamination pathway from that same pre-exclusion era. Cleanup costs now ahead for this property — investigation, soil and groundwater remediation — could plausibly be recovered from historical carriers whose policies were in force during those pre-1986 operational years.
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.
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
Ready to learn more?
Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
