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 petroleum contamination discovered in soil and groundwater at this station traces to underground storage tanks associated with an original Texaco operation that predates the Shell acquisition. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies issued to the operators during the station's earlier decades — before the 1986 shift to claims-made pollution exclusions — may still respond to the cleanup costs now being incurred. With remediation underway and costs continuing to accrue, historical carriers who covered the station's operations during the period of contamination may be obligated both to recover past expenditures and to fund ongoing cleanup.

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.