This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1959. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property 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 traces to underground storage tanks installed and operated continuously from the late 1950s — more than a quarter century before 1986, when occurrence-based CGL policies still carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The remediation cost trail already spans decades: tank removals, large-scale soil excavation, five years of vapor extraction, chemical oxidation, and long-term groundwater monitoring still underway. Historical carriers who wrote CGL policies during that pre-1986 operational 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.