This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. 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.

The presence of an 8,000-gallon leaded gasoline underground storage tank at this site places fuel-dispensing operations squarely in the pre-1986 era, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The petroleum contamination documented here — free product in groundwater, impacted soil, vapor-phase hydrocarbons — is the direct legacy of those decades of pre-1986 fueling operations. More than twenty years of remediation expenditures have already been incurred, with cleanup still underway, and historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the period of contamination may be obligated both to reimburse past costs and to fund the remaining work.

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.