This property has a documented history as a automobile dealership going back to 1964. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This 3.5-acre property has operated as an automobile dealership and service facility since 1964, with an original eight-bay service department, showroom, and storm drain systems designed to collect shop discharge. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included removal of a 300-gallon used oil underground storage tank in 1990, excavation of over 400 tons of contaminated soil and 165 linear feet of drain line in 1995, and groundwater treatment using chemical oxidation with hydrogen peroxide in 1995–1996. Multi-year monitoring continued from 1994 through 2013–2014, and the site has received a No Further Action determination. 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.
Petroleum and waste oil contamination at this property originated from dealership service operations — hydraulic hoists, a used oil UST, and shop-floor drains — that were in continuous use from 1964, more than two decades before occurrence-based CGL policies gave way to claims-made forms with absolute pollution exclusions. The documented remediation expenditures spanning 1990 to 2014 — tank removal, large-scale soil excavation, groundwater treatment, and nearly twenty years of monitoring — were incurred to address releases tied directly to those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during that operational window may still be obligated to recover those cleanup costs.
Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful cost recovery claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage for costs already incurred. Restorical's forensic accounting team works to re-establish and document past cleanup expenditures, ensuring the strongest possible basis for recovery.
Recovering Costs from an Older Cleanup
If this site reached No Further Action years ago, the original cleanup expenditures may be difficult to reconstruct. Restorical's forensic accounting team specializes in re-establishing and documenting past cleanup costs — even decades later — to build the strongest possible basis for an insurance recovery claim.
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
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Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
