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.

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 metals and petroleum contamination confirmed at this property — lead, cadmium, mercury, and TPH-oil — are consistent with decades of coal handling and scrap processing that took place well before 1986, when occurrence-based CGL policies had no effective pollution exclusion. Those pre-1986 policies were written to cover exactly this kind of slow, accumulating industrial release. The property owner now faces the full arc of forthcoming remediation costs — investigation design, cleanup, and long-term oversight — that historical carriers whose policies were in force during the pre-1986 operational period may be obligated to fund.

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.