This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal going back to 1929. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.
The Reisner bulk terminal in Anacortes has operated as an above-ground bulk fuel storage facility since 1929, holding diesel and kerosene in tanks of up to 60,000 gallons. At least one 20,000-gallon fuel tank was removed from the property prior to a 2007 site assessment, which documented petroleum contamination and surface staining consistent with long-term bulk-terminal operations rather than any single documented release event. No active cleanup work has yet commenced, and the site remains in Awaiting Cleanup status under Standard Cleanup. That history could support an insurance cost recovery claim against carriers who issued insurance policies 40+ years ago.
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-terminal operations at this property predate 1986 by more than five decades, and the contamination pattern — chronic surface staining with no documented discrete release — reflects exactly the kind of slow, continuous exposure that accumulated across multiple policy years. Every carrier who issued a CGL policy to the Reisner terminal during those pre-1986 decades may bear independent exposure for the remediation costs that investigation and cleanup will generate. That length of operating history translates directly into a correspondingly broad window across which historical coverage can be pursued.
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.
What We Look For
- Historical insurance policies (pre-1986)
- Policy numbers, carrier names, and coverage periods
- Connection between contamination timing and policy period
- Evidence linking cleanup obligation to insured activity
What We Deliver
- Historical Coverage Chart
- Trigger Analysis & Property/Policy Nexus
- Coverage strategy with recommendations
- Insurance funding for your remediation
- Claims Management & Forensic Accounting
The Restorical Proven Process
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Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
