This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1930. 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.

The petroleum releases at this site trace to a gasoline station operating as early as 1930 — more than five decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still written without effective pollution exclusions. Underground storage tanks tied to those pre-1986 operations were in the ground until 1997, creating a decades-long contamination window squarely within the coverage period of historical CGL policies. The documented remediation expenditures — soil removal, bioremediation, vapor barrier construction, institutional controls, and long-term monitoring — represent costs that historical carriers whose policies were in force during the station's operational years may still be obligated to fund.

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.