This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1949. 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.

The petroleum hydrocarbon contamination at this site traces directly to underground storage tanks that served a fuel-dispensing operation beginning in 1949 — nearly four decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still the industry norm and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The documented remediation costs here — five UST removals, soil investigation, multi-year groundwater monitoring, and planned bioremediation — were incurred to address releases attributable to that pre-1986 operational window. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the service station operators during that period may be obligated both to recover costs already spent 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.