This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1968. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
This property has operated as a service station since 1968, with multiple underground storage tanks dispensing gasoline — including leaded grades — throughout its history. Five steel USTs were removed in 1993, and approximately 475 cubic yards of petroleum-contaminated soil were excavated and thermally treated offsite. Replacement fiberglass tanks were installed the same year, along with a horizontal soil vapor extraction system and air sparging wells that were never activated. Groundwater monitoring and free product recovery have been ongoing since 1991 under the Voluntary Cleanup Program. 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.
Petroleum contamination at this site originated from underground storage tanks installed and operated beginning in 1968 — nearly two decades before occurrence-based CGL policies gave way to claims-made forms with absolute pollution exclusions. The documented remediation expenditures here — tank removal, large-scale soil excavation and thermal treatment, free product recovery, and more than three decades of groundwater monitoring — represent costs tied directly to releases from those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the station's early decades may be obligated both to recover past cleanup costs and to fund the remediation work that remains ahead.
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.