This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1971. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.
This property served as a fuel dispensing facility within the Harbor Marina complex, operating underground storage tanks for diesel, leaded gasoline, and waste oil — the presence of leaded gasoline confirming operations well before 1986. In 1996, all three USTs (10,000-gallon diesel, 10,000-gallon leaded gasoline, and 2,000-gallon waste oil) were decommissioned and removed, with diesel and gasoline releases to site soils identified during closure activities and traced to a leaking pump on the diesel tank. The site has remained on Ecology's Confirmed and Suspected Contaminated Sites List since January 1997, and 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.
Fuel storage and dispensing operations at this marina property date to at least the early 1970s, placing them squarely within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were issued without an effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The contamination discovered here — petroleum releases from aging underground storage tanks — is exactly the kind of gradual, long-duration loss those policies were designed to cover. Documented remediation expenditures including tank removal, contaminated soil management, and the multi-year assessment process represent costs that historical carriers may be obligated both to reimburse and to fund through completion of cleanup.
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.