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 marina's fuel-dispensing operations were already established by 1973 — the facility appears on a USGS topographic map from that year — meaning CGL policies issued to the operator during that pre-1986 window would have been occurrence-based and carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law. The contamination here arose from historic overfilling of the UST system over the course of those long-running fueling operations, exactly the kind of gradual, operational release those policies were written to cover. The documented remediation costs — tank closures, fuel disposal, soil excavation, groundwater investigation, and monitoring-well installation — represent expenditures the historical carriers 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.