This property has a documented history as a public works and maintenance facility going back to 1975. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property served as King County's Brugger's Bog field maintenance facility, operated by the Department of Transportation's Roads Services Division, with a fueling system comprising two single-wall steel 10,000-gallon underground storage tanks — one for unleaded gasoline and one for diesel — installed in 1975. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program in 1998 involved excavation and removal of both USTs and associated piping, removal of approximately 249.55 tons of petroleum-contaminated soil for offsite thermal treatment, and backfilling of the excavations. The site has received a No Further Action determination from Ecology. 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 facility originated from underground storage tanks installed and operated beginning in 1975 — more than a decade before occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies gave way to claims-made forms with absolute pollution exclusions. The documented remediation expenditures — tank and piping removal, excavation of nearly 250 tons of contaminated soil, offsite thermal treatment, and backfilling — represent costs tied directly to releases from those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to King County during the 1975–1986 window may still be obligated to cover 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.
