This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1952. 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.

Fueling and auto repair operations at this site began around 1952 — more than three decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The TPH-Gasoline contamination documented in soil and groundwater here is a direct legacy of those pre-1986 service-station operations, and the documented remediation record — UST removal, soil excavation, groundwater extraction, and ongoing monitoring under a recorded Restrictive Covenant — establishes a clear cost trail tied to that operational history. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the decades of active fueling and repair may be obligated both to recover past remediation expenditures and to fund the continuing obligations the Covenant imposes.

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.