This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1978. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.

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 site originated from underground storage tanks installed in 1978 and fuel dispensing infrastructure operated continuously through the pre-1986 period, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. Nearly three decades of documented remediation expenditures — multiple rounds of tank removal, soil excavation, groundwater treatment, engineered seepage controls, and long-term monitoring under a Restrictive Covenant — were incurred to address releases tied directly to those pre-1986 fueling operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to GTE during that operational window may still be obligated to recover those cleanup costs.

Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful cost recovery claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage for costs already incurred. Restorical's forensic accounting team works to re-establish and document past cleanup expenditures, ensuring the strongest possible basis for recovery.