This property has a documented history as a property with a heating oil tank predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.

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 here traces to residential heating oil tanks installed and operated in a former neighborhood — a use that predates 1986 and the regulatory changes that stripped effective pollution coverage from Commercial General Liability policies. The discovery of two buried USTs and 4,313 tons of affected soil in 2009 is characteristic of the slow, decades-long accumulation of contamination that pre-1986 occurrence-based CGL policies were written to cover. Parties responsible for the remaining capped contamination and any future remediation costs may have standing to pursue historical carriers whose policies were in force when those tanks were actively in use.

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.