This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1951. 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.

Gasoline storage and dispensing at this property began in 1951 — more than three decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The contamination now being remediated is explicitly tied to those historical underground storage tank operations, not to any recent incident. The documented remediation costs — tank removal, soil excavation, and a decade-plus of vapor extraction — represent expenditures that historical carriers whose policies were in force during the pre-1986 operational window may still be obligated to fund.

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.