This property has a documented history as a bulk fuel distribution terminal going back to 1946. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has supported aviation operations since at least 1946, with continuous aircraft maintenance and fueling activities from the 1950s and 1960s forward. A bulk refueling center constructed in 1985 housed underground storage tanks with a combined capacity of 42,000 gallons for Jet A aviation fuel and 100-octane avgas, along with a 500-gallon waste oil UST. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included removal of all USTs, excavation of 500 tons of contaminated soil, groundwater pumping and off-site treatment, free product recovery, and quarterly groundwater monitoring — culminating in 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.
Petroleum contamination at this site originated from decades of aviation fueling and maintenance operations that began well before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were the industry standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The documented remediation expenditures — tank removals, large-scale soil excavation, groundwater treatment, free product recovery, and multi-year 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.