This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1970. 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 — TPH-Gasoline, benzene, and related compounds — originated from underground storage tanks that were in service more than a decade before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The remediation costs already incurred here — extraction well installation, air stripper infrastructure, and over fifteen years of quarterly groundwater monitoring — along with any future cleanup obligations trace directly to releases during that pre-1986 operational window. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the station's operators during the 1970s and early 1980s may be obligated both to reimburse past remediation expenditures and to fund the ongoing cleanup.

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.