This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal going back to 1938. 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.

Bulk petroleum storage and distribution operations at this site began in 1938 — nearly five decades before the 1986 threshold at which occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies began incorporating effective pollution exclusions. The petroleum contamination attributed to those historical operations, including decades of aboveground tank use and pipeline service, is the type of slow, cumulative release that pre-1986 CGL policies were written to address. The remediation expenditures already incurred — thousands of tons of soil excavation and disposal, groundwater management, and multi-phase sampling — represent costs that historical carriers whose policies were in effect during the facility's operational decades 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.