This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1960. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property 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.

Gasoline operations spanning this property date to the 1960s — more than two decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The contamination confirmed in groundwater here — benzene, petroleum hydrocarbons, and free product — is characteristic of the types of releases associated with decades of fueling operations conducted under those pre-1986 policies. Historical carriers who covered the facility during that operational window may bear obligation both to recover remediation costs already incurred and to fund the ongoing cleanup of impacts that remain orders of magnitude above state cleanup levels.

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.