This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1964. 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.

Gasoline storage and dispensing operations at this site began more than two decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The groundwater contamination documented here — MTBE, benzene, and petroleum hydrocarbons — traces directly to underground storage tanks installed in 1964 and 1970, squarely within the coverage window of those historical policies. Carriers who issued CGL policies during those years of operation may still be obligated to reimburse the remediation costs incurred to achieve the site's No Further Action status.

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.