This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1975. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property served as a district office and fleet fueling facility for Cascade Natural Gas Corporation, with a 1,000-gallon diesel underground storage tank installed in 1975 to supply the company's vehicle operations. The UST operated for approximately sixteen years before its removal in May 1991, at which point roughly 33.75 tons of petroleum-contaminated soil were excavated. Groundwater remediation followed, including well redevelopment, regular purging, and extensive multi-year monitoring and sampling that ultimately supported 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.
Diesel contamination at this site originated from an underground storage tank installed and operated continuously from 1975 — more than a decade before occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies gave way to claims-made forms with absolute pollution exclusions. The documented remediation expenditures — tank removal, soil excavation, well redevelopment, and years of groundwater monitoring — are the type of progressive-damage cleanup costs that pre-1986 CGL policies were structured to cover. Historical carriers who provided coverage to Cascade Natural Gas during the 1975–1986 operational window may still be obligated to reimburse those 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.