This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1945. 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 traces to fueling operations that began more than four decades before 1986 — the detection of ethylene dibromide (EDB) in soil and groundwater directly indicates an older release associated with leaded gasoline, confirming the contamination originated during the pre-1986 operational period. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to the operators of this station from the mid-1940s through the mid-1980s carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law. The documented remediation expenditures — tank removals, large-scale soil excavation, groundwater treatment, and decades of monitoring — represent costs the historical carriers may be obligated both to recover and to fund going forward.

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.