This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. 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 storage operations at this property stretch back more than two decades before 1986, including the dispensing of leaded gasoline from ASTs that predate modern pollution standards by a generation. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to operators during that pre-1986 window carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington and remain potentially enforceable today. The contamination identified here — tied directly to decades of fuel storage and dispensing from both ASTs and USTs installed well before the 1986 cutoff — represents precisely the kind of historical, gradual release those policies were written to cover.

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.