This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1935. 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.

Gasoline dispensing at this site began more than fifty years before 1986, the year occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies stopped reliably covering pollution claims. The petroleum contamination detected here is the product of routine fueling operations conducted across that long pre-1986 window — exactly the type of gradual, operations-linked release those policies were written to cover. The cleanup costs the property owner now faces — investigation, remedial design, and remediation — could plausibly be funded by historical carriers whose CGL policies were in effect during the station's 1935–1971 operating life.

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.