This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1964. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a Shell service station with four underground storage tanks for gasoline and waste oil until approximately 1989, when the tanks were removed. Cleanup under a Standard Cleanup program included excavation of approximately 203 tons of contaminated soil and application of Oxygen Release Compound for groundwater treatment in 2000, culminating in a No Further Action determination in 2012. A new Safeway Fuel Center was constructed on the site in 2003 and remains in active operation with three 20,000-gallon underground gasoline storage tanks. 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 well before 1986, during the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. More than two decades of documented remediation expenditures — tank removal, large-scale soil excavation, and groundwater treatment — were incurred to address releases tied directly to those pre-1986 fueling operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies while the Shell station was operating 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.
