This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1965. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
The Whatcom Waterway site encompasses industrial waterfront property in Bellingham that hosted pulp and paper mill operations dating to the late 1800s and, from 1965, a Georgia-Pacific Chlor-Alkali Plant that produced chlorine and sodium hydroxide for use in bleaching and pulping wood fiber. Mercury discharges from the Chlor-Alkali Plant occurred from 1965 through 1979; the plant operated until 1999, when it was closed through source-control measures that also included industrial pretreatment. Cleanup to date includes an interim action at the Log Pond in which 43,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediments were capped and are now under active monitoring, while a multi-year Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study evaluating further alternatives — including sediment excavation and pilot testing of electro-chemical reductive technology — is currently underway. 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 mercury contamination at this site traces directly to Chlor-Alkali Plant discharges that ran from 1965 through 1979 — a fourteen-year release window that unfolded entirely before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. Carriers who issued CGL policies to Georgia-Pacific or the mill operators during those decades may retain obligations tied to those historical releases. The documented remediation costs — capping 43,000 cubic yards of impacted sediments, long-term cap monitoring, source-control and pretreatment programs, and an ongoing RI/FS scoping excavation and advanced reductive technologies — represent expenditures those pre-1986 carriers may be obligated both to recover and to fund going forward.
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
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Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
