This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.
This mobile home park property housed a 1,000-gallon underground storage tank for regular gasoline, with a fuel dispenser serving the facility. The UST was abandoned in approximately 1974, and a subsequent closure assessment confirmed aged gasoline contamination in soil, with benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, and lead detected in both soil and groundwater samples. Cleanup to date has included removal of the UST, soil excavation and stockpiling, and establishment of four exploratory test pits; multi-phase groundwater monitoring and further remediation planning are recommended but have not yet commenced. 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.
Gasoline dispensing operations at this property date to well before 1974 — the year the underground storage tank was abandoned — placing the contamination origin squarely within the era of occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies that carried no effective pollution exclusion. The presence of lead in soil and groundwater further confirms a pre-1986 release, as leaded gasoline was the standard fuel of that period. The cleanup costs this property now faces — groundwater monitoring, remediation design, and active remediation — are the type of forward-looking expenditures that historical CGL carriers may be obligated to fund.
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.
