This property has a documented history as a property with a heating oil tank going back to 1950. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
The single-family residence at this property was constructed in 1950 and heated by an underground storage tank that released heating oil into the surrounding soil and groundwater. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program, conducted from 2009 to 2012, included excavation and removal of the tank, removal of petroleum-contaminated soils to depths of up to 14 feet below ground surface, and pumping of perched groundwater from the excavation area. The project concluded with 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.
The heating oil tank at this property was installed and operated beginning around the time of the home's 1950 construction — more than three decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still carried no effective pollution exclusion. The documented release here is the kind of slow, gradual subsurface contamination that those pre-1986 policies were written to address. Remediation expenditures incurred for tank removal, deep soil excavation, groundwater recovery, and multi-year investigation and reporting may be recoverable from historical carriers whose policies were in force during the decades the tank was in service.
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.
