This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1983. 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.

The petroleum and lead contamination at this site originated from an underground fuel tank system that was already in operation when WSCO acquired it in 1983 — squarely within the era of occurrence-based CGL policies that carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. Nearly three decades of documented remediation expenditures — tank removal, thermal soil treatment, pump-and-treat operations, air sparging, and long-term monitoring — were incurred to address releases tied to those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during that window may be obligated both to recover costs already spent and to fund the cleanup work that continues today.

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.