This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. 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 gasoline and diesel contamination at this former Exxon station — TPH, BTEX, and lead — traces directly to fuel storage and dispensing operations conducted before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The site's documented remediation expenditures — vapor extraction, air sparging, pump-and-treat systems, tank removals, and years of groundwater monitoring — represent costs the historical carriers who insured those pre-1986 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.