This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations 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.

The petroleum contamination at this facility — benzene, diesel-range hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and naphthalene — stems from bulk fuel storage and distribution operations conducted under multiple operators, including Leid Ford, Chevron, and Powell Distributing, predating the 1986 shift away from occurrence-based CGL coverage. The scale of documented contamination — cleanup-level exceedances across nearly all monitoring wells, free product in the aquifer, and vapor intrusion into occupied spaces — represents substantial remediation expenditures that historical carriers who issued policies during the facility's pre-1986 operating years may be obligated both to recover and to fund going forward.

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.