This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal going back to 1926. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as the Unocal bulk fuel and distribution facility beginning in 1926, storing and distributing petroleum products through five aboveground storage tanks ranging from 5,000 to 20,000 gallons, multiple product delivery lines, and dispenser pumps. The bulk plant was closed in 1992 and all infrastructure — tanks, product lines, warehouse, pumping house, garage, and rail spurs — was removed as part of source control. Subsequent cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included soil excavations from 2001 through 2012 totaling at least 2,020 cubic yards of removed material, pump-and-treat groundwater recovery processing over 224,000 gallons in 2005 with 1,000 pounds of activated carbon, and multi-year groundwater monitoring spanning 1994 to 2014. 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.
Unocal began bulk fuel operations at this site in 1926 — six decades before the 1986 threshold after which Commercial General Liability policies routinely included effective pollution exclusions. Documented leaks occurred in 1985 and 1986, placing the contamination-triggering events squarely within the occurrence window of pre-1986 CGL policies. The remediation record that followed — AST and product-line removal, over two thousand cubic yards of soil excavation, hundreds of thousands of gallons of groundwater treatment, and twenty years of monitoring — represents substantial cleanup expenditures tied directly to those pre-1986 bulk plant operations that historical carriers may 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.
