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 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.

The presence of both current-generation and former underground storage tanks at this facility points to fuel storage operations spanning multiple decades — with the original tanks very likely predating 1986, when occurrence-based CGL policies were standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. Benzene and petroleum hydrocarbons released into groundwater from those long-running fueling operations are the type of gradual contamination those policies were designed to cover. The remediation expenditures incurred to remove the USTs and address groundwater contamination under the Voluntary Cleanup Program may be recoverable from historical carriers whose policies were in force during the facility's earlier operational years.

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.