This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1964. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property 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.

Fuel dispensing operations at this site date to 1964 — more than two decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The contamination here, tied to decades of gasoline, diesel, and waste oil storage in underground tanks, is precisely the kind of slow-onset, long-duration release those pre-1986 policies were written to cover. The site's documented remediation costs — five UST removals, excavation of over 220 tons of impacted soil, and a 2023 Phase II investigation with further cleanup still ahead — represent expenditures that historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the site's pre-1986 operational years may be obligated both to recover and to fund going forward.

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.