This property has a documented history as a auto body / repair shop going back to 1928. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
Constructed in the late 1920s, this property operated as Hylen's Olympic Garage / Tacoma Auto Rebuild, an auto repair and body shop facility with underground storage tanks for gasoline. Cleanup under the Standard Cleanup program has included the excavation and decommissioning of two USTs — a 300-gallon tank removed in 1995 and a 500-gallon tank removed in 2007 — both found to have poor structural integrity and responsible for releasing petroleum into the subsurface. Approximately 60,000 pounds of petroleum-contaminated soil were excavated and disposed, excavated areas were backfilled and capped, and quarterly groundwater monitoring was conducted from 1996 through 1998. Cleanup work is ongoing. 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 underground storage tanks installed and operated as part of an auto garage dating to the late 1920s — more than five decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies still carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The documented remediation expenditures — two rounds of UST removal, tens of thousands of pounds of contaminated soil disposal, capping, and multi-year groundwater monitoring — were incurred to address releases directly tied to those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the garage's operational window may be obligated both to recover past cleanup costs and to fund remediation still ahead.
Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful coverage claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage. Restorical then manages the claim, including accounting, to ensure the cleanup is funded in a timely manner.
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.