This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1973. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a Wondrack Cardlock self-service fuel dispensing facility, with three underground storage tanks — a 12,000-gallon diesel tank installed by 1973, a 5,000-gallon regular gasoline tank installed in 1978, and a 6,000-gallon unleaded gasoline tank installed in 1981 — serving a fuel dispenser island on site. The property also historically functioned as a bulk heating fuel distribution plant. In 1993, all three USTs were removed and approximately 485 cubic yards of petroleum-impacted soil were excavated and transported to the Richland Landfill for landfarming treatment. The site has received 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.
Fuel storage and dispensing operations at this property date to at least 1973, more than a decade before occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies stopped reliably covering pollution claims in 1986. All three underground storage tanks were installed during that pre-1986 window, and the petroleum contamination requiring excavation of nearly 500 cubic yards of soil is directly attributable to those operations. The remediation costs incurred — tank removal, large-scale soil excavation, and offsite treatment — are the type of documented cleanup expenditures that historical CGL carriers who insured the facility during the 1973–1986 period may be obligated to cover.
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.