This property has a documented history as a automobile dealership going back to 1965. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has operated as an automobile sales and service facility since 1965, first as Chuck Olson Chevrolet and later as Ken Easley Oldsmobile, with on-site service bays and hydraulic lifts in active use throughout that period. Contamination — petroleum hydrocarbons, diesel, heavy oil, gasoline, and trichloroethylene — was identified in 1997 in soil surrounding the service bays and hydraulic lift vaults. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included excavation and off-site thermal desorption treatment of 1,213 tons of impacted soil, removal and decommissioning of nine hydraulic lifts and vaults, and vacuum-truck recovery of oil and sludge. A restrictive covenant was recorded for the 195 cubic yards of residual impacted soil remaining in place, and a No Further Action determination was issued for both soil and groundwater. 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 contamination at this dealership traces directly to service-bay and hydraulic-lift operations conducted from 1965 onward — more than two decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still lacked effective pollution exclusions in Washington. The remediation costs documented here — thermal desorption treatment of over 1,200 tons of hydrocarbon-impacted soil, decommissioning of nine hydraulic systems, and industrial waste recovery — are expenditures tied squarely to those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL coverage to the dealership operators during that 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
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.
