This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal going back to 1922. 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 petroleum contamination at this site traces to bulk fuel operations conducted across more than six decades — 1922 through 1985 — entirely within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The presence of leaded gasoline among the identified petroleum products is itself an independent pre-1986 marker anchoring the contamination origin to that policy window. The scale of documented and planned remediation — source area excavation, a 700-foot sheet pile containment wall, long-term monitored natural attenuation, and ongoing cleanup cost analyses — represents expenditures the historical carriers from that operational period 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.