This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1982. 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 1986 gasoline release at this property originated from a UST system that had been in the ground since 1982 — a period when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still the industry standard and Washington's pollution exclusion was not reliably enforceable. The contamination event itself falls precisely at the pre-1986 policy threshold, meaning carriers who issued CGL coverage to the site's operators in the years leading up to and including 1986 may still bear obligations tied to that release. Decades of documented remediation expenditures — excavation, groundwater recovery, vapor extraction, and long-term monitoring that continues today — represent costs that historical carriers 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.