This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1924. 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.

Petroleum contamination at this property originates from underground storage tanks that operated for roughly five decades before 1986, spanning an era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The historical carriers who issued CGL coverage during the site's operational window — from the 1920s through the 1972 redevelopment — may be obligated both for the investigation costs already incurred and for the soil excavation, air sparging, and vapor extraction expenditures the remediation plan calls for going forward. The documented link between contamination and former USTs associated with pre-1986 fuel-dispensing operations establishes the causal chain that historical insurance recovery requires.

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.