This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. 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.

The detection of lead in site soils — a signature of leaded gasoline phased out of U.S. fuel supplies by the mid-1980s — establishes that this station operated during the era of occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies that carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. Contamination traced to those historical underground storage tanks has already generated significant remediation expenditures, and documented future investigation, cleanup, and cost-analysis work remains ahead. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the station's pre-1986 operational window may be obligated both to recover costs already incurred and to fund the remediation work still to come.

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.