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 underground storage tanks removed from this property in 1991 were the original installations at a long-established petroleum facility, placing the onset of fuel storage and dispensing operations well before 1986. Lead and petroleum contamination documented in groundwater beneath the site traces directly to those decades of pre-1986 operations. Occurrence-based CGL policies issued to the operators during that era carried no effective pollution exclusion, and the historical carriers may remain obligated to cover the investigation and remediation costs incurred over twenty-five years of cleanup.

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.