This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1964. 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 traces directly to underground storage tanks installed in 1964 and operated for two decades before 1986, squarely within the era of occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies that carried no effective pollution exclusion. The documented remediation expenditures — tank removal, large-scale soil excavation, on-site treatment, groundwater recovery, and nearly two decades of monitoring — represent costs tied to those pre-1986 operations. With cleanup still in progress and additional remediation potentially ahead, historical carriers who covered the Chevron station during its operational years may be obligated both to reimburse past expenditures and to fund the work that remains.

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.