This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1976. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This United Parcel Service distribution center in Moses Lake has operated since 1976, when a 10,000-gallon unleaded gasoline underground storage tank was installed to refuel the facility's delivery vehicle fleet. The leaking UST was removed in 1993 along with 475 cubic yards of petroleum-impacted soil, followed by over-excavation and installation of monitoring wells. Quarterly groundwater monitoring conducted from 2014 through 2015 confirmed natural attenuation of contaminants, and the site received a No Further Action determination under the Voluntary Cleanup Program. 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 property originated from an underground storage tank that was installed and operated continuously from 1976 — a full decade before occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies gave way to claims-made forms with absolute pollution exclusions. The documented remediation expenditures — tank removal, large-scale soil excavation, monitoring well installation, and years of groundwater sampling — were incurred to address a release directly tied to those pre-1986 fueling operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies covering the Moses Lake facility during that 1976–1986 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.