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 second-generation USTs at this former service station — removed in 1991–1992 — points to an earlier generation of tanks that were installed and operating well before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. Petroleum and solvent contamination in groundwater beneath the property is the kind of gradual release directly tied to those earlier operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to Unocal or its predecessors during that pre-1986 window may bear obligations for the investigation and remediation costs incurred over the decades-long cleanup that followed.

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.