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 property operated as a 7-Eleven gasoline facility with underground storage tanks dispensing regular leaded gasoline — a product phased out well before 1986. One 10,000-gallon leaded gasoline UST and its associated piping were closed in place in January 1993, and three additional USTs were removed in 1994 after being taken out of service. Remediation under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included an air sparge and vent system installed in September 1995 and ongoing groundwater monitoring with purge-water treatment. The site has since received 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 petroleum contamination at this property originated from underground storage tanks that dispensed leaded gasoline — placing the relevant operations squarely in the pre-1986 era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The documented remediation costs — UST closures and removals, air sparging, and long-term groundwater monitoring — were incurred to address releases tied directly to those earlier operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the period these tanks were in active use may still be obligated to cover those cleanup expenditures.
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.
