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.

Fueling operations at this site began at least 26 years before 1986, the year occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were replaced by claims-made forms with absolute pollution exclusions. The petroleum contamination detected in groundwater — benzene, diesel-range hydrocarbons, and other petroleum compounds — traces directly to decades of underground storage tank operations during that pre-1986 window. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies while those tanks were in service may still be obligated to recover the investigation and remediation costs incurred to bring the site to its current No Further Action status.

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.