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.

Gasoline station operations at this property were already established before 1988 — and therefore before 1986, when occurrence-based CGL policies were still routinely issued without effective pollution exclusions in Washington. The independent cleanup action now underway at this ARCO station represents remediation expenditures tied to releases from those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who wrote CGL coverage for the facility during that earlier operational period may be obligated both to recover costs already incurred and to fund the cleanup work still 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.