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.

A pump island undergoing expansion in 1990 is one that had already been in active service for years prior — suggesting the petroleum operations responsible for the contamination here, and the policies covering them, extend back well before 1986. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies issued before that year carried no effective pollution exclusion and remain enforceable against historical carriers. The remediation costs tied to this site — the initial 1990 response, the documentation shortfall that left that work incomplete, and the additional cleanup still to be performed — represent expenditures that historical carriers may be obligated both to recover and to fund going forward.

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.