This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1965. 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.

At least one of the removed tanks — the 1,500-gallon regular unleaded gasoline UST — was approximately 25 years old at the time of its December 1990 removal, placing its installation around 1965 and the station's petroleum-dispensing operations squarely within the era of occurrence-based Commercial General Liability coverage. Pre-1986 CGL policies issued to the station's operators during that window carried no effective pollution exclusion and remain enforceable today. The documented remediation costs — permit preparation, UST removals, soil excavation, and planned bioremediation — represent expenditures that historical carriers whose policies were in force during those decades of operation may be obligated to fund.

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.