This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1956. 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 — diesel, gasoline, and benzene — traces directly to underground storage tanks installed and operated during the property's decades as a commercial gas station, beginning in 1956 and continuing through the mid-1970s. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to the station operators during that pre-1986 window carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law. The documented remediation costs already incurred — tank removals, soil excavation, groundwater recovery, and more than two decades of monitoring — represent expenditures the historical carriers may be obligated both to reimburse and to continue funding as cleanup work proceeds.

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.