This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1930. 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 GRO and leaded-gasoline contamination at this property traces directly to fueling operations that began in the 1930s — more than four decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies routinely lacked effective pollution exclusions. Historical carriers who insured Sunbeam Service Station or its successor operators during that pre-1986 window wrote policies that remain enforceable against documented environmental obligations. The cleanup expenditures ahead — soil excavation, ongoing investigation, and remediation under the Agreed Order — are precisely the type of costs those policies were designed 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.