This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal going back to 1954. 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.

Petroleum contamination at this facility traces to pipeline and bulk storage operations that began in 1954 — more than three decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The release from the pipeline manifold, documented as a historical operational leak rather than a discrete recent incident, is exactly the kind of slow ongoing contamination those pre-1986 policies were written to address. Remediation costs already expended — tank removal, well rehabilitation — and the substantial future expenditures anticipated for dual-phase extraction, soil removal, monitoring, and institutional controls represent liabilities that historical carriers whose policies were active during the decades of pre-1986 pipeline operations may be obligated both to reimburse 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.