This property has a documented history as a industrial and manufacturing facility going back to 1975. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
The Texaco Puget Sound Refinery in Anacortes operated underground storage tanks that were reportedly leaking fuel over an eight-to-ten-year period before being removed or closed in place in 1985. The resulting petroleum contamination — identified as LUST Site 2104 — triggered a multi-year assessment and remediation effort spanning 1991 through 2012 under the Standard Cleanup program. Texaco opted for passive bioremediation at the LUST site, and the property has since received a No Further Action determination. Additional incidents at the refinery included a sulfuric acid spill from a leaking line in 1993 and separate fuel spills involving Jet A and gasoline that were routed to the facility's wastewater treatment system. 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 releases from underground storage tanks at this refinery began in the mid-1970s — more than a decade before occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies gave way to claims-made forms with absolute pollution exclusions. The contamination that drove two decades of assessment and remediation traces directly to tank operations covered under those earlier policies. Historical carriers who issued CGL coverage to Texaco during the years those tanks were actively leaking may still bear obligation for the cleanup expenditures incurred from 1991 through the site's closure in 2012.
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.