This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1960. 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.

This gasoline service station operated continuously from 1960 — more than two decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The petroleum and solvent contamination discovered in groundwater, and the remediation costs incurred to address it — including groundwater treatment and long-term monitoring through to site closure — arose from operations that began squarely within that pre-1986 policy window. Historical carriers who covered the station during its 1960s-through-1980s operational period may still be obligated to respond to those documented cleanup expenditures.

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.