This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1969. 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 originated from underground storage tanks installed and operated well before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The scale of documented remediation — 16 tank removals, thousands of cubic yards of soil excavation, hundreds of thousands of gallons of groundwater treatment, and ongoing monitoring — represents substantial expenditures that historical carriers may be obligated to recover, with additional cleanup costs still ahead. Policies issued to the operators during the pre-1986 window when these tanks were in active service remain a plausible source of both reimbursement and forward-looking coverage.

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.