This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1977. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property 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.

The petroleum contamination at this site originated from single-wall underground storage tanks installed in 1977 and operated through 1990 — squarely within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. Decades of documented remediation expenditures — UST removals, large-scale soil excavation, dual-phase extraction, and long-term groundwater monitoring — were incurred to address releases tied directly to those pre-1986 operations, with further cleanup costs still ahead. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during that operational window may be obligated both to recover past remediation costs and to fund the cleanup work that remains.

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.