This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station 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 UST leaks discovered at this facility in 1993 originated from aviation-gasoline tanks old enough to have been in service well before 1986 — the year occurrence-based CGL policies ceased to be the industry standard. While a 2013 airplane spill contributed an additional release, the pre-1986 UST operations produced their own documented contamination, and the CGL policies in force during that earlier operational window carried no effective pollution exclusion for such releases under Washington law. The remediation costs already incurred — tank removals, product-line replacement, groundwater monitoring — and the cleanup work still ahead may be recoverable from historical carriers whose policies were in effect when those tanks were operating.

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.