This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1953. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.

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.

Gasoline UST operations at this property began at least three decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The petroleum releases that contaminated groundwater here — benzene, TPH-gasoline, TPH-diesel — originated from those pre-1986 underground storage tanks. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the 1953-through-1978 operational window may be obligated to reimburse the documented remediation costs incurred to bring the site to No Further Action status.

Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful cost recovery claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage for costs already incurred. Restorical's forensic accounting team works to re-establish and document past cleanup expenditures, ensuring the strongest possible basis for recovery.