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.

Gasoline and diesel contamination of this character — detected at concentrations exceeding state cleanup thresholds, with no documented spill event or recent accident — is consistent with gradual release from underground storage tanks or fueling infrastructure operated over many years prior to 1986. That pre-1986 window is precisely when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The documented remediation expenditures at this site — soil excavation, bioremediation preparation, and sustained groundwater monitoring — represent costs tied directly to those historical operations, and historical CGL carriers whose policies were in force during that period may be obligated to recover those costs and fund the cleanup work still 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.