This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal going back to 1935. 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 at this property — weathered diesel fuel and kerosene in soil and groundwater — has been traced directly to fuel oil sales operations conducted in the late 1940s and 1950s, decades before the 1986 shift away from occurrence-based Commercial General Liability coverage. Carriers who issued CGL policies to the operators during that pre-1986 window wrote coverage without an effective pollution exclusion under Washington law, and the documented remediation expenditures here — tank removals, soil excavation, groundwater recovery, and years of monitoring — represent costs those historical policies may be obligated both to reimburse and to fund as cleanup continues.

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.