This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1929. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.

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.

Fuel dispensing operations at the Palmer Building trace to at least 1929, when a UST installation permit was issued — more than five decades before 1986, when occurrence-based CGL policies stopped reliably covering pollution claims. The oil, diesel, and gasoline contamination documented in soil and groundwater here is the direct product of those long-running pre-1986 operations. The investigation and cleanup costs the property owner now faces — remedial design, soil treatment, and groundwater remediation — represent expenditures that historical carriers whose CGL policies were in force during the decades of fuel operations may be obligated to fund.

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.