This property has a documented history as a property with a heating oil tank going back to 1903. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.
This Hoquiam residence was constructed in 1903 and, consistent with dwellings of that era, was heated by an oil-fired system. A Phase II environmental assessment investigated a potential underground storage tank on the property; although no UST was physically located, petroleum hydrocarbon contamination was detected in groundwater — DRO at 3,280 µg/L and RRO at 2,210 µg/L, each exceeding the MTCA Method A cleanup level of 500 µg/L — strongly indicating a release from the residential heating oil system. To date, site activity has been limited to containerizing investigation-derived waste, and no active remediation has commenced. 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.
A heating oil system serving a home built in 1903 would have been in operation for the better part of a century before the pollution exclusions that reshaped CGL coverage after 1986. The slow, diffuse groundwater contamination characteristic of aging residential heating oil releases is precisely the class of ongoing occurrence that pre-1986 occurrence-based policies were written to cover. The property now faces groundwater investigation and MTCA-mandated cleanup costs that could plausibly be funded by historical carriers whose policies were in force during the decades this contamination was accumulating.
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.
