This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1969. 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 and solvent contamination at this site traces directly to fueling and service operations that ran for more than a decade before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The remediation record — tank removals, soil excavation, bioremediation, groundwater treatment, demolition, and asbestos abatement — documents a multiyear cleanup cost trail tied to those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who wrote CGL policies covering the ARCO station and associated tenants during the 1969–1983 operating window may still be obligated to recover those documented expenditures.

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.