This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. 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 contamination here is tied directly to underground storage tanks that were in use well before 1986 — tanks removed as recently as September 2001 indicate an operational history spanning decades into the pre-1986 era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The breadth of remediation applied at this site — tank removals, excavation, multiple concurrent treatment systems — reflects the scale of expenditures arising from those historical releases. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the fuel station operators during that window may be obligated both to recover costs already incurred and to fund the cleanup work that remains ahead.

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.