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 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.

Bulk petroleum distribution operations at this Unocal facility predated 1986, the year occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies stopped reliably covering pollution claims in Washington. The broad range of groundwater contaminants documented here — gasoline, diesel, benzene, solvents, and metals — is consistent with decades of petroleum handling and storage at scale. The remediation costs incurred to bring this site from active contamination through cleanup to its No Further Action determination may be recoverable from the historical carriers who insured the facility during the years those releases were occurring.

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.