This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property 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.

PSE's fleet fueling operation relied on large underground storage tanks that were installed and operating well before 1986 — a timeline confirmed by the 1994 contamination study that documented subsurface releases already requiring investigation and tank removal at that date. The documented remediation expenditures here — UST removal, fuel and rinsate recovery, soil management, and demolition debris disposal — trace directly to releases from those pre-1986 fueling operations. Historical carriers who issued occurrence-based CGL policies to the operators during the decades those tanks were in service may be obligated both to recover past cleanup costs 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.