This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1978. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.

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 property originated from an underground storage tank that was installed and operated beginning in 1978 — eight years before occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies gave way to claims-made forms with absolute pollution exclusions. The cleanup costs incurred over nearly three decades — tank removal, multiple rounds of soil excavation, groundwater recovery, well installation, and long-term monitoring — are the type of documented remediation expenditures that historical CGL carriers who covered the facility during its pre-1986 fueling operations may be obligated to reimburse.

Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful cost recovery claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage for costs already incurred. Restorical's forensic accounting team works to re-establish and document past cleanup expenditures, ensuring the strongest possible basis for recovery.