This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1939. 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.

Gasoline retail operations at this property date to 1939, nearly five decades before the 1986 shift from occurrence-based to claims-made Commercial General Liability policies. The documented releases from aging underground storage tank infrastructure — a 1972 gasoline leak and a 960-gallon spill in 1984 — occurred squarely within the window when CGL policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. Historical carriers who underwrote the station's operations during that era may bear obligation for the remediation expenditures incurred to address the benzene and petroleum hydrocarbon contamination found in groundwater beneath the site.

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.