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 petroleum contamination at this Shell station originated from underground storage tanks that stored regular leaded gasoline — a product largely phased out by 1986 — confirming that the release traces to operations well within the occurrence-based CGL policy era. More than three decades of documented remediation expenditures — large-scale soil excavation, vapor extraction, groundwater treatment, and long-term monitoring — have been incurred to address that pre-1986 release, with cleanup still underway. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the station's pre-1986 operational window may be obligated both to recover past cleanup costs and to fund the remediation work that remains.

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.