This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. 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 underground storage tanks removed from this property were installed and operated well before 1986, the year occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies stopped reliably covering pollution claims. The petroleum contamination now documented in soil and groundwater is the product of those pre-1986 operations — exactly the kind of long-duration release these policies were written to address. The cleanup costs the property owner faces — site investigation, remedial design, and eventual soil and groundwater remediation — could plausibly be funded by historical carriers whose CGL policies were in effect when those tanks were first put into service.

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.