This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1925. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations 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.

Fuel storage and dispensing operations at this site began more than six decades before 1986, and the contamination confirmed in soil and groundwater traces directly to leaking underground storage tanks that were in service throughout that pre-1986 window. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to the station's successive operators during those decades carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law and remain enforceable today. The documented remediation costs already incurred — multiple tank removals, large-scale soil excavation, aeration — and the additional cleanup work still ahead represent expenditures the historical carriers may be obligated both to reimburse 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.