This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1920. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.

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 groundwater contamination documented here — gasoline-range organics and benzene — is explicitly linked to a fuel island that operated from the early 1970s through the 1980s, well before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still lacked an effective pollution exclusion in Washington. Because active cleanup work has not yet begun, the remediation costs this property faces are prospective, and historical carriers who issued CGL policies during that pre-1986 fueling window may be obligated to fund them. A site with contamination traced directly to identified pre-1986 operations and a documented UST removal history is precisely the profile for which pre-1986 policy recovery is most actionable.

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.