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 fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
This property has operated as a fuel service station since well before 1986, originally as a Texaco station and currently as an active Shell-branded facility with two dispenser islands, three 12,000-gallon gasoline USTs, and a car wash. Contamination from former gasoline USTs was identified as early as 1989, prompting decades of remediation under the Voluntary Cleanup Program — including UST removal, groundwater recovery, soil vapor extraction, air sparging, and the installation and overdrilling of multiple monitoring and remediation wells. Annual groundwater monitoring has continued since at least 2017, and cleanup work remains ongoing. 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 that were in service long before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The documented remediation expenditures spanning decades — tank removals, groundwater recovery, vapor extraction, air sparging, and long-term monitoring — represent costs tied directly to releases from those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during that operational window may be obligated both to recover past cleanup costs and to fund the remediation work that continues today.
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.