This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a gasoline service station with three underground storage tanks, associated piping, and pump islands. In 1991, all three USTs were removed along with approximately 1,700 cubic yards of petroleum-contaminated soil, which was treated via land farming. Groundwater remediation included pumping 11,000 gallons — 4,800 gallons disposed off-site and the remainder treated by air sparging. The site received a No Further Action determination in 2012 after 21 years of oversight. 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 gasoline USTs at this property were installed and operating well before 1986, with tank-age estimates placing installation around the mid-1960s — squarely within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. Twenty-one years of documented remediation costs — tank removal, large-scale soil excavation and treatment, groundwater pumping and disposal, and air sparging — were incurred to address petroleum releases tied directly to those pre-1986 fueling operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the decades these tanks were in service may still owe indemnity for 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.