This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1939. 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 contamination at this property — petroleum hydrocarbons and lead attributable to leaded-gasoline dispensing — originated from operations that ended more than three decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. Lead from leaded gasoline is a recognized pre-1986 pollution marker, and the release timeline here is explicitly traced to the 1930s–1950s. The documented remediation costs at this site — UST removals, soil excavation, and years of ongoing characterization under VCP oversight — represent expenditures that historical carriers whose policies were in force during that operational window 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.