This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1960. 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 contamination at this North Bend site traces directly to underground storage tanks that were installed and operating for decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The documented remediation costs here — four large-capacity UST removals, hundreds of cubic yards of impacted soil, onsite bioremediation, and groundwater containment — represent expenditures tied to that long pre-1986 operational history. Historical CGL carriers whose policies were in force during the facility's early decades may be obligated both to recover those remediation costs already incurred and to fund the cleanup 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.