This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1963. 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 — including lead detected in groundwater, a signature of leaded gasoline that ceased production before 1986 — traces directly to fueling operations that were in place decades before the pollution exclusion transformed Commercial General Liability policies. The scale of documented remediation expenditures, from thousands of tons of soil removal to years of groundwater treatment and monitoring, represents costs that historical carriers who issued occurrence-based CGL policies during the station's active years may be obligated to reimburse and to continue funding as cleanup work proceeds.

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.