This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1970. 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.

Petroleum fueling operations at this property date to the 1970s, more than a decade before the 1986 shift away from occurrence-based Commercial General Liability coverage. The gasoline contamination discovered in soil and groundwater here traces directly to underground storage tanks installed and operated throughout that pre-1986 window. Investigation, UST removal, groundwater monitoring, and the environmental covenant now encumbering the property all represent costs and liabilities that historical CGL carriers — whose policies were in force when the contamination originated — may be obligated to address.

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.