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.
This Mukilteo waterfront property operated as McConnell's Boathouse, with underground storage tanks dispensing petroleum products — a configuration tracked in Ecology's Leaking Underground Storage Tank database. An independent remedial action addressed petroleum hydrocarbon contamination in soil and groundwater over a five-year span, from initial environmental audits in July 1993 through a closure report in September 1998. Ecology issued a No Further Action determination, and the site was cleaned up 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.
The leaking underground storage tanks at McConnell's Boathouse followed the characteristic LUST deterioration pattern: tanks installed and operated well before 1986 gradually failed over decades, producing the petroleum hydrocarbon releases discovered in the early 1990s. That slow-release timeline places the origin of contamination squarely within the period when occurrence-based CGL policies were in force — and the five years of remedial work that followed, from initial audits through final closure, generated documented cleanup expenditures that historical carriers who covered the property during tank operations may still be obligated to reimburse.
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.