This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1965. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has operated as a retail gasoline station since approximately 1965, when its original steel underground storage tanks were installed. In 1990, five steel USTs were decommissioned and removed along with 590 cubic yards of contaminated soil, and replacement tanks were installed. A used oil UST was removed in 2002 during service station upgrades, and quarterly groundwater monitoring under the Voluntary Cleanup Program has been ongoing since 2010, with contaminated groundwater collected and disposed of off-site. The site has received a No Further Action determination and continues to operate as a 76-branded gasoline station and car wash. 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 property originated from underground storage tanks installed and operated roughly two decades before 1986, during the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. Documented remediation expenditures spanning more than two decades — tank removals, excavation of nearly 600 cubic yards of impacted soil, off-site disposal, and long-term quarterly groundwater monitoring — represent costs tied directly to releases from those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during that operational window may still be obligated to cover those cleanup 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.