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 four underground storage tanks at this property were installed and operational well before 1986 — a release discovered in 1999 after years of service reflects the kind of slow, cumulative migration that occurrence-based CGL policies were written to cover and that predates the modern pollution exclusion. Carriers who issued CGL policies to the operators of this facility during the pre-1986 window bear potential exposure for the documented remediation costs incurred here: piping repair, UST removal, soil excavation, groundwater recovery, and fifteen years of monitoring. With cleanup confirmed complete for several contaminants, those historical policies may be a viable mechanism both for recovering past expenditures and for addressing any remaining remediation obligations.

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.