This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1973. 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 single-wall, asphalt-coated steel tanks removed from this property in 1998 are consistent with installation in the early 1970s — more than a decade before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies began incorporating effective pollution exclusions. Detection of total lead in the groundwater further confirms that leaded-gasoline operations, phased out by the mid-1980s, were ongoing at this site during the pre-1986 policy window. The documented remediation costs here — large-scale soil excavation, groundwater recovery, in-situ bioremediation, and years of monitoring — represent expenditures that historical CGL carriers whose policies were in force during those operations may be obligated both to recover and to fund going forward.

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.