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 fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.

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.

Gasoline operations at this station began in the 1980s, and UST infrastructure evidence — including a 1993 Stage II vapor recovery upgrade to existing tanks and abandoned prior-generation piping — points to original tank installations in the early-to-mid 1980s, before occurrence-based CGL policies gave way to claims-made forms with pollution exclusions. The confirmed groundwater plume carrying benzene, MTBE, and lead represents exactly the kind of gradual release that pre-1986 policies were structured to cover. Remediation costs already incurred and still accumulating — excavation, UST work, long-term groundwater monitoring — may be recoverable from historical carriers whose policies were in force when these tanks first went into service.

Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful coverage claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage. Restorical then manages the claim, including accounting, to ensure the cleanup is funded in a timely manner.