This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1966. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This industrial property in Oak Harbor operated as a concrete production facility, with underground storage tanks — a 6,000-gallon diesel fuel tank and an 800-gallon unleaded gasoline tank — supporting heavy equipment operations estimated to date to the mid-1960s. Cleanup under Ecology's standard program included removal of both USTs in 1991, excavation of approximately 100 cubic yards of contaminated soil, on-site land farming of affected soils, and quarterly groundwater monitoring from 1991 through 1993. The site remained on Ecology's contaminated sites list for over two decades before receiving a No Further Action determination in 2014. 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 estimated to have been installed around 1966 — two decades before occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies gave way to claims-made forms with absolute pollution exclusions. The remediation costs documented here — tank removal, soil excavation, land farming, and years of groundwater monitoring — were incurred to address releases tied directly to those pre-1986 fueling operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies covering this facility during that operational window may still be obligated to recover those cleanup expenditures.
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.