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 at this site were in service well before 1986, during the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. Gasoline-range petroleum hydrocarbons, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes released from those tanks triggered more than fifteen years of remediation — soil vapor extraction, groundwater monitoring, and regulatory oversight — all costs incurred to address contamination originating from pre-1986 operations. Historical CGL carriers who covered the Chevron station or Southland Corporation during that operational window may still be obligated to recover 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.