This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal going back to 1951. 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.

Union Pacific's railroad and industrial operations at these parcels began in 1951 — more than three decades before 1986, spanning the full era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion and covered contamination events like the petroleum handling and coal gasification activities documented here. Historical carriers that issued CGL policies to Union Pacific and its co-operators during that pre-1986 window may be obligated both to recover expenditures already incurred — groundwater sampling campaigns, soil capping, and extraction well installation — and to fund the continuing remediation work ahead, including ongoing groundwater monitoring and active extraction operations that remain unfinished.

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.