This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1927. 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 contamination at this property traces directly to fuel storage and dispensing operations that began in 1927 — nearly six decades before the 1986 threshold at which occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies ceased to reliably cover pollution claims. The successive generations of USTs installed and operated across five decades represent exactly the kind of long-duration, pre-1986 release history that those policies were written to address. The documented remediation program — excavation, barrier walls, engineered controls, and long-term groundwater monitoring — reflects costs that historical carriers whose policies were in force during the station's operational life 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.