This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1936. 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 dispensing at this site began in 1936, a full half-century before the 1986 transition away from occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies. The petroleum releases that contaminated soil and groundwater here — and migrated beyond the property boundary — originated from underground storage tanks operated during an era when CGL policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. Historical carriers who insured the station's operators across those pre-1986 decades may still be obligated to recover the cleanup costs incurred to reach 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.