This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal going back to 1948. 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.

Bulk petroleum distribution began at this site in 1948 — thirty-eight years before the 1986 threshold — meaning every CGL policy issued to the facility's operators across nearly four decades of fuel storage and distribution was occurrence-based and carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law. The contamination now driving cleanup costs, petroleum releases from 55,000 gallons of UST capacity plus PCE in groundwater, traces directly to operations conducted while those policies were in force. With remediation ongoing and further excavation planned, the historical carriers who covered this facility from 1948 through the mid-1980s may be obligated both to reimburse past cleanup expenditures and to fund the 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.