This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operates as an active branded 7-Eleven retail gas station with convenience store in Aberdeen. Three 12,000-gallon single-wall steel underground storage tanks were decommissioned in February 2014, and petroleum contamination was discovered during the removal. An independent cleanup action under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included excavation and disposal of 792 tons of petroleum-contaminated soil, remediation and capping of benzene contamination, and reduction of petroleum gasoline levels to below cleanup standards. The site has 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 single-wall steel USTs removed from this property are infrastructure characteristic of an era well before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. Petroleum hydrocarbons, BTEX compounds, and MTBE released from those tanks triggered a cleanup whose documented costs — tank decommissioning, nearly 800 tons of contaminated soil disposal, benzene remediation and capping — are the type of expenditures that historical CGL carriers may still be obligated to reimburse under policies in effect when the contamination originated.
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.
