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.

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 soil contamination of the type documented here — spreading beneath a right-of-way from an adjacent branded service station — is characteristically the product of slow, long-term releases from underground storage tanks installed and operated well before 1986. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies in effect during those early decades of Corner Chevron's operations had no effective pollution exclusion and remain enforceable for covered contamination events. As the site moves from investigation toward remediation, the cleanup costs the responsible party faces could plausibly be funded by historical carriers whose policies were in force when the release first began.

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.