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 recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Jackpot Station 392 operated as a retail fuel station in Montesano, with six gasoline underground storage tanks and one hydraulic oil UST in service over a multi-decade period. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included removal of all seven USTs, excavation and disposal of 1,140 tons of petroleum-contaminated soil, installation of monitoring and recovery wells, 14 enhanced bioremediation events conducted over more than two years, and quarterly groundwater monitoring maintained for more than four years. The site has reached a No Further Action designation. 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 detection of lead and 1,2-dibromoethane (EDB) — a lead scavenger compounded into leaded gasoline — among the contaminants of concern establishes that fuel dispensing at this site predates the mid-1980s phase-out of leaded gasoline. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies in force during that pre-1986 operational window carried no effective pollution exclusion and remain enforceable today. The documented remediation expenditures at this property — UST removals, large-scale soil excavation, multi-year bioremediation, and extended groundwater monitoring — are directly attributable to those historical operations, and the carriers who issued CGL coverage during that era may still be obligated to recover those 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.
