This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property at 1128 SW Spokane St operated as a paint manufacturing facility under Asahipen America, Inc., doing business as Aspen Paint, with industrial infrastructure that included an underground storage tank containing heavy bunker oil fed by a buried metal pipeline. A leak in that pipeline was discovered in late 2000, attributed to rusting of the metal; cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included excavation and disposal of 5.73 tons of petroleum-contaminated soil, abandonment of the failed pipeline in place, and installation of an aboveground replacement. The site reached a No Further Action determination subject to a Restrictive Covenant limiting the property to traditional industrial uses and requiring five-year periodic reviews to manage residual contamination. 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 corroded metal pipeline and bunker oil UST that caused the contamination at Aspen Paint's facility are characteristic of infrastructure installed and in service well before 1986 — the very era when occurrence-based CGL policies were standard and effective pollution exclusions were not yet universal. The documented remediation record — 5.73 tons of bunker-oil-contaminated soil excavated and disposed of, a buried pipeline decommissioned — represents costs tied directly to that pre-1986 operational footprint. Carriers who issued CGL policies to Aspen Paint's operators during that window may still be obligated to recover those expenditures, and the ongoing Restrictive Covenant signals that residual contamination could sustain those obligations into the future.
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.
