This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property 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 discovery of older, deteriorated underground storage tanks with large holes — tanks whose origin was unknown even at the time of excavation — points to gasoline releases that began decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The documented remediation costs at this site — tank removals, soil excavation, off-site bioremediation — arose from contamination tied directly to those long-running pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the operators during that window may still be obligated to recover those cleanup expenditures and to fund any further remediation the site requires.

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.