This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1917. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.

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 here traces to a service station that ran for more than three decades — from approximately 1917 to at least 1950 — entirely within the era when occurrence-based CGL policies were the industry standard in Washington. The TPH-G and BTEX releases that now exceed MTCA cleanup levels in soil and groundwater originated from operations that predated 1986 by at least 36 years. Excavation, contaminated-soil disposal, dewatering, and activated-carbon treatment costs the property owner will incur going forward are precisely the type of cleanup expenditures that historical carriers who issued policies during that long operational window may still be obligated to fund.

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.