This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. 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 gasoline and BTEX contamination at this site originated from underground storage tanks that were in service well before 1986 — their removal in 1993 places their installation era squarely within the period when occurrence-based CGL policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. More than two decades of documented remediation expenditures — large-scale soil excavation, groundwater extraction and treatment, thermal remediation, and long-term monitoring — were incurred to address releases tied to those pre-1986 fueling operations, with cleanup still underway. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the tanks' operational window may be obligated both to recover past cleanup costs and to fund the remediation work that remains.

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.