This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1930. 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 here traces to UST operations that began in the 1930s — more than five decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies ceased to reliably cover pollution claims. Carriers who issued those pre-1986 policies to the service station operator during its long operational window had no effective pollution exclusion, and may remain liable for remediation costs that continue to accumulate. The documented scope of cleanup — UST removal, soil excavation, multi-year groundwater monitoring, and an ongoing data gap assessment with further characterization pending — represents the kind of long-tail remediation expenditure that 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.