This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. 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.

The petroleum contamination at this site — TPH-Gx, BTEX, and MTBE released from underground storage tanks — traces to fuel dispensing operations that predated 1986, as evidenced by the presence of a leaded gasoline UST and a waste oil UST whose vintage substantially precedes that threshold. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies issued to the station's operators during that pre-1986 window included no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law and remain enforceable today. The documented remediation expenditures at this site — tank removals, large-scale soil excavation, years of extraction system operation, and continuing groundwater monitoring — represent costs the historical carriers 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.