This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1979. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has operated as Rick's Chevron, an active service station and repair shop, for over 40 years — placing its operational start no later than the late 1970s. Gasoline-range hydrocarbons were released due to a 1992 vendor overfill of the site's underground storage tanks. Cleanup under the Standard Cleanup program included removal of three single-wall steel USTs (totaling 14,000 gallons of capacity) in 1996, excavation of approximately 1,277 tons of contaminated soil across two phases in 1996 and 2016, treatment and discharge of 57,500 gallons of groundwater, application of 600 pounds of Oxygen-Releasing Compound, and ongoing monitoring with institutional controls. 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.
The petroleum contamination at this property originated from underground storage tanks installed and operated well before 1986, during the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. Two decades of documented remediation expenditures — UST removal, large-scale soil excavation, groundwater treatment, chemical oxidant injection, and long-term monitoring — were incurred to address a release tied to those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies covering this service station during that operational 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.