This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal going back to 1924. 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.

Petroleum contamination at this facility traces to underground storage tanks installed in 1971 and 1975 — infrastructure that served a bulk distribution operation continuously active since 1924. Any CGL policies issued to the operators of this plant during that half-century of pre-1986 fueling operations would have been occurrence-based, with no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law. The documented remediation costs here — tank removal, containment upgrades, and over two decades of groundwater monitoring — represent expenditures the historical carriers may be obligated both to recover 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.