This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1941. 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.

Gasoline-range hydrocarbons and BTEX contamination at this site trace directly to underground storage tanks installed and operated across four decades before 1986 — a period when occurrence-based CGL policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The documented remediation costs — tank removals, large-scale soil excavation, vapor extraction infrastructure, and decades of groundwater monitoring — were incurred to address releases tied to those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who wrote CGL coverage for this station during its 1941-through-1985 operational window may be obligated both to recover past cleanup expenditures 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.