This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1975. 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 steel underground storage tanks at this site were installed in the mid-1970s — more than a decade before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The benzene and petroleum contamination detected in groundwater here is directly traceable to operations during that pre-1986 window. Remediation expenditures spanning UST decommissioning, tank removal, and environmental investigation represent costs that historical carriers who provided CGL coverage during the 1970s and 1980s may still be obligated to cover.

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.