This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1983. 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 originated from leaking underground storage tanks installed in 1983 — three years before occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies gave way to claims-made forms with absolute pollution exclusions. The documented remediation expenditures — nearly a thousand tons of soil removal, groundwater recovery, vapor extraction, bioremediation, institutional controls, and years of ongoing monitoring — were incurred to address releases tied directly to those pre-1986 fuel storage operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies covering this station during that window may be obligated both to reimburse past cleanup costs and to fund the monitoring and institutional controls that continue today.

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.