This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1954. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
This Tacoma property operated as an automobile service station from at least 1954, with three underground storage tanks — a 10,000-gallon diesel tank, a 10,000-gallon unleaded gasoline tank, and a 550-gallon heating oil tank — totaling 20,550 gallons of capacity. In 1998, all three tanks were decommissioned and removed, followed by soil excavation and backfilling with clean fill; contaminated subsurface soil was capped in place. Groundwater monitoring was conducted from December 1999 through March 2002, and cleanup work remains ongoing under Washington's 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.
Petroleum contamination at this site traces directly to UST operations that began no later than 1954 — more than three decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still lacked effective pollution exclusions. The documented remediation record — three tank removals totaling over 20,000 gallons of capacity, soil excavation, subsurface capping, and multi-year groundwater monitoring — reflects the scale of releases attributable to those pre-1986 fueling operations. Historical CGL carriers who issued policies to the operators during that window may be obligated both to recover past cleanup expenditures and to fund the costs of work still underway.
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
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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.
