This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal going back to 1924. 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.

Petroleum storage and distribution operations at this site began in 1924 — more than six decades before the 1986 shift away from occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies. The contamination discovered during the 1989 UST removal is tied directly to those decades of bulk fuel operations, not to any single recent event. With remediation planning still underway and the potentially liable parties facing both ongoing cleanup costs and potential penalties, historical CGL carriers who covered this facility during its pre-1986 operational window may be obligated to fund both past expenditures and the remediation work ahead.

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.