This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1970. 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.

Petroleum contamination at this site originated from underground storage tanks installed and operated as early as the late 1960s — well over a decade before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The documented remediation expenditures here — tank removals, soil excavation, water treatment, and more than two decades of groundwater monitoring — trace directly to releases from those pre-1986 fuel operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the years those tanks were in service may be obligated both to recover past cleanup costs and to fund the remediation work that remains ahead.

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.