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 OU 8 originates from gas station operations within the Naval Base's Public Works Industrial Area that were active well before 1986 — the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies had no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. Contamination plumes were documented at their greatest extents in 1996, and free product gasoline continues to be recovered from the gas station area, reflecting a slow, ongoing release tied directly to those pre-1986 operations. The documented remediation expenditures — containment systems, vapor extraction, multiple bioaugmentation campaigns, pilot studies spanning years, and sustained monitored natural attenuation — represent costs that historical CGL carriers whose policies covered the operational window 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.