This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal going back to 1911. 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 — TPH-gasoline, diesel, oil, and BTEX — traces to bulk fuel storage and distribution operations that ran continuously from 1911 through the late 1970s, decades before occurrence-based CGL policies added effective pollution exclusions. The scale of documented remediation — thousands of tons of contaminated soil removed, tank and infrastructure demolition, long-term groundwater monitoring, LNAPL recovery, and shoreline stabilization still underway — represents substantial costs already incurred and yet to come. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to operators during that seven-decade window may be obligated both to reimburse past cleanup expenditures and to fund the remediation work that remains.

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.