This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1965. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property served as the US WEST Service Operations Center, a telecommunications fleet fueling and vehicle maintenance facility with underground storage tanks installed as early as 1965. Four USTs — storing unleaded gasoline, diesel, used oil, and fuel oil — were removed in 1993, along with the excavation of approximately 3,050 tons of petroleum-impacted soil. Remediation under the Voluntary Cleanup Program from 2007 through 2021 included groundwater sparging and air injection, liquid petroleum hydrocarbon recovery, soil vapor extraction with granular activated carbon treatment, and bioremediation feasibility studies. 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 petroleum contamination at this property traces directly to underground storage tanks installed in 1965, 1979, and 1980 — all years when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. Nearly three decades of documented remediation expenditures — tank removals, large-scale soil excavation, groundwater treatment systems, vapor extraction, and long-term monitoring — were incurred to address releases from those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who insured the facility's operators during that window may still be obligated to recover 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.