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 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.

The underground storage tanks removed from this property in 1993 and 2004 were consistent with installations dating to the late 1960s and 1970s — well within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. Over thirteen years of documented remediation costs — repeated tank removals, soil excavation, groundwater treatment, and long-term monitoring — were incurred to address petroleum and BTEX releases tied directly to those pre-1986 tank operations. Historical carriers who wrote CGL policies covering this property during that window may still be obligated to reimburse those cleanup expenditures.

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.