This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal 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.

Large-scale bulk petroleum storage and distribution of the kind conducted at this site — jet fuel handled in tanks totaling more than one million gallons of capacity — was standard pre-1986 industrial activity carried out under occurrence-based CGL policies that contained no effective pollution exclusion. The LNAPL contamination documented in soil and groundwater here reflects releases tied directly to those bulk storage operations, and the recovery work now underway represents precisely the remediation costs such policies were written to address. Historical carriers whose policies covered Yellowstone Pipeline's operations during the pre-1986 window may remain obligated both to recover cleanup costs already incurred and to fund the continuing groundwater remediation.

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.