This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal predating 1986. 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.

The contamination here — a slow, chronic petroleum leak from aging bulk-storage infrastructure — is precisely the kind of gradual, long-running release that occurrence-based CGL policies issued before 1986 were written to cover, before effective pollution exclusions became standard. The outstanding cleanup costs, including whatever remediation will eventually be required to address remaining gasoline, diesel, and PAH contamination in soil, represent expenditures that historical carriers whose policies were in force during the period of release may still be obligated to fund. A lapsed cleanup does not extinguish that obligation.

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.