This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1928. 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 originated from service station operations that began nearly six decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The documented remediation expenditures — UST removal, groundwater recovery, vapor extraction, and three decades of monitoring — trace directly to releases from those pre-1986 operations. With cleanup still ongoing and additional investigation and institutional controls yet to come, historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the 1928–1967 operational window may be obligated both to recover past remediation costs 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.