This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1958. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
This Longview property operated as the ARCO #0967 service station from 1958 through 1977, with four underground storage tanks — one 4,000-gallon diesel tank and three gasoline tanks totaling 16,000 gallons in capacity — on-site until their removal in 1986. Cleanup work under the Voluntary Cleanup Program has included excavation of UST components and 1,708 tons of contaminated soil, recovery of 1,725 gallons of petroleum-contaminated pit water, an interim free-product removal action, and Oil Gator bioremediation applied to excavation sidewalls. The project remains active, with quarterly groundwater monitoring underway and a Feasibility Study and Disproportionate Cost Analysis still to be completed. 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 gasoline- and diesel-range contamination at this site — including benzene and lead — traces directly to ARCO service station operations that ran from 1958 to 1977, decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and contained no effective pollution exclusion. The releases that now require remediation began during exactly the period those policies were in force. Both the costs already documented — over 1,700 tons of soil excavation, free-product recovery, bioremediation — and the future remediation expenditures still to be scoped represent obligations that historical carriers may be required both to recover and to fund as cleanup proceeds.
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.
