This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1983. 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.

Petroleum contamination in groundwater at this property — diesel-range and other petroleum hydrocarbons — originated from fueling operations that began in 1983, three years before occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies gave way to claims-made forms with absolute pollution exclusions. The investigation and remediation costs incurred over more than a decade of assessment, piping work, and monitoring to achieve the site's No Further Action status are the type of expenditures that historical CGL carriers who covered the Texaco station during that pre-1986 window may still be obligated to fund.

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.