This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1920. 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.

Petroleum contamination at this site traces to underground storage tanks that were installed and operated over decades of gasoline service, the vast majority of which predated 1986 — when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The documented remediation costs — two rounds of tank removals, thousands of tons of soil excavation, and years of groundwater monitoring — were incurred to address releases tied directly to those long-running pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the station's pre-1986 operating years may be obligated both to recover past cleanup expenditures and to fund the remediation still under way.

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.