This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.

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 three abandoned sump vaults and piping lines at this BNSF right-of-way are the physical remnants of bulk petroleum operations that regulators themselves characterized as a "historic" spill — placing the contamination's origin well within the pre-1986 occurrence window when CGL policies covering BNSF or its predecessor operators carried no effective pollution exclusion. Those occurrence-based policies were triggered by the release event itself, not by when the contamination was discovered, meaning the Bunker "C" discharges from those sump vaults could give rise to coverage obligations that remain enforceable today. The documented remediation costs — drum removal, sump excavation and backfill, and extraction of 180 cubic yards of solidified asphalt cement — are the kind of expenditures historical carriers may be obligated to recover.

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.