This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1968. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property served as a fueling operation for UPS in Bellingham, with a gasoline underground storage tank and pump island supporting fleet vehicles. The gas UST was removed in April 1993, and cleanup activities spanning from 1993 through 2016 included multiple soil excavation events that removed approximately 1,040 tons of petroleum-contaminated soil. The site has received a No Further Action determination under the Standard Cleanup program. 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 underground storage tank removed in 1993 was likely installed decades earlier — consistent with fueling infrastructure dating to the late 1960s — placing the origin of contamination well within the era of occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies that carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. Over two decades of documented remediation costs, including repeated excavation campaigns and long-term project oversight, were incurred to address petroleum releases from that pre-1986 tank system. Historical carriers who covered the operation during the years the UST was in service may still be obligated to reimburse those cleanup expenditures.
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.