This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1880. 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 contamination at Wishkah & Whiting traces to industrial operations that ran for nearly a century before 1986 — a mill in continuous production from 1880 through 1980 would have been covered by successive generations of occurrence-based CGL policies during the decades when those policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The arsenic, lead, and TPH now confirmed in groundwater are the product of that 95-year industrial footprint, not a recent event. Remediation costs the property owner will face — investigation, remedial design, and active cleanup — could plausibly be funded by historical carriers whose policies were in force across that operational window.

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.