This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1925. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.
This property operated as a gasoline service station from approximately 1925 until the late 1970s, with three underground storage tanks and a pump island — USTs documented on-site as early as 1937. Cleanup activities have included multiple phases of soil excavation and off-site disposal totaling over 4,400 tons and 36,000 cubic yards, dewatering of approximately 1.99 million gallons of groundwater over roughly one year, in-situ injections of activated carbon and zero-valent iron, and installation of a sub-slab vapor extraction system with chemical-resistant vapor barriers. Remediation and long-term monitoring remain ongoing under the Standard Cleanup program. That history could support an insurance cost recovery claim against carriers who issued insurance policies 40+ years ago.
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 service station at this property operated for more than fifty years — from 1925 through the late 1970s — with underground storage tanks in the ground decades before 1986, when the pollution exclusion became standard in CGL policies. Every phase of the remediation documented here: the excavation of over 4,400 tons of impacted soil, the treatment of nearly two million gallons of contaminated groundwater, the vapor extraction system, and continuing monitoring, traces back to petroleum releases from those USTs during that pre-1986 operational window. Carriers who issued occurrence-based CGL policies to the operators across those fifty-plus years of fuel storage and dispensing may still be obligated to fund the cleanup costs the property now faces.
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.
What We Look For
- Historical insurance policies (pre-1986)
- Policy numbers, carrier names, and coverage periods
- Connection between contamination timing and policy period
- Evidence linking cleanup obligation to insured activity
What We Deliver
- Historical Coverage Chart
- Trigger Analysis & Property/Policy Nexus
- Coverage strategy with recommendations
- Insurance funding for your remediation
- Claims Management & Forensic Accounting
The Restorical Proven Process
Ready to learn more?
Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
