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 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.

The underground storage tanks at this Longview gas station were almost certainly installed and dispensing fuel well before 1986, during the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The petroleum contamination found in groundwater — benzene, diesel and gasoline hydrocarbons, MTBE — traces to decades of fuel storage operations that predate the 1986 policy shift. Historical CGL carriers who covered the station during that pre-1986 operational window may bear obligation for the investigation and remediation costs incurred at this site.

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.