This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1964. 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.

Petroleum contamination at this site originated from underground storage tanks installed and operated beginning in 1964 — more than two decades before occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies ceased reliably covering pollution claims. The documented remediation expenditures, from multiple rounds of tank removal and soil excavation to over two decades of groundwater monitoring, trace directly to releases from those pre-1986 operations. With cleanup still underway, historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the operators during that 1964-to-1986 window may be obligated both to recover past remediation costs and to fund the monitoring and cleanup work that continues.

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.