This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1951. 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 gasoline USTs at this property were installed in 1951 and, based on documented pitting and perforations, leaked petroleum hydrocarbons over an extended period — decades before the 1986 threshold at which occurrence-based CGL policies began carrying effective pollution exclusions. The contamination here is explicitly characterized as historical, tied directly to that long-term operational leakage rather than any recent event. The costs the property owner now faces — full site characterization, soil remediation, and regulatory closure under MTCA — represent expenditures that historical carriers whose policies covered those pre-1986 years of active leakage may 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.