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

Ethylene dibromide detected in groundwater at this site is a direct chemical marker of leaded gasoline releases: EDB was used exclusively as a lead scavenger in leaded fuel, which was phased out of general U.S. use by 1986, confirming that contamination originated from operations conducted before that threshold year. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies in effect during that pre-1986 window carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law and remain enforceable against historical carriers. The remediation expenditures already incurred here — vapor extraction, sustained groundwater monitoring, and multi-phase vapor intrusion investigation — represent costs that those carriers may be obligated both to recover and to fund as cleanup 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.