This property has a documented history as a public works and maintenance facility predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has served as Intercity Transit's maintenance and storage facility for transit vehicles in Olympia. An automatic transmission fluid (ATF) release from an underground storage tank was identified in 1991, and a separate hydraulic oil release from an underground pipe occurred in 1994. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program spanned from 1991 through 2016 and included UST removal, excavation and off-site disposal of nearly 239 tons of ATF-impacted soil and 20 cubic yards of hydraulic-oil-impacted soil, installation and sampling of groundwater monitoring wells, and advancement of soil borings. 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 releases at this facility originated from underground infrastructure — a UST and subsurface piping — that was in place and operational before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. More than two decades of documented remediation expenditures — tank removal, soil excavation, groundwater monitoring, and multi-year site characterization — were incurred to address releases tied to that pre-1986 infrastructure. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies covering this facility during that window may still be obligated to reimburse 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.