This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1928. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property 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 nearly six decades before 1986, the year occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies ceased reliably covering pollution claims in Washington. The petroleum contamination documented in groundwater — benzene, lead, TPH-gasoline — traces directly to underground storage tanks that were in service throughout that pre-1986 window. Remediation expenditures spanning UST removal, soil cleanup, groundwater monitoring, and vapor intrusion assessment represent costs that historical CGL carriers who insured this station during its decades of pre-1986 operations may still be obligated to cover.

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.