This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1970. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property was developed as a Chevron service station with underground storage tanks installed in the early 1970s for gasoline, diesel, and waste oil. Cleanup activities under the Voluntary Cleanup Program spanned from 1990 to 2017 and included the replacement and removal of multiple USTs, excavation of approximately 80 cubic yards of contaminated soil, removal of soil with seasonally perched groundwater, and multi-year groundwater monitoring. 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 contamination at this site originated from underground storage tanks installed and operated more than a decade before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The presence of lead in soil and groundwater — consistent with leaded gasoline dispensed during that pre-1986 window — further anchors the contamination to the era those policies covered. Nearly three decades of documented remediation expenditures, from UST removals and soil excavation to long-term groundwater monitoring, represent costs that historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the station's early operations may still be obligated to recover.
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.
