This property has a documented history as a property with a heating oil tank predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property served as a communication facility that stored #1 diesel fuel in a 500-gallon underground storage tank to power an on-site generator. The UST was decommissioned and removed in 1993, along with over-excavation of approximately 5 cubic yards (23.23 tons) of contaminated soil and disposal of 15 gallons of residual diesel fuel and sludge. Groundwater monitoring conducted from 1994 through 1996 and subsequent reviews extending to 2013 documented contamination persisting above cleanup levels before the site ultimately 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 diesel contamination at this property originated from an underground storage tank that was in service well before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. Two decades of documented remediation and monitoring expenditures — tank removal, soil excavation, waste disposal, and long-term groundwater oversight from 1993 through 2013 — were incurred to address a release tied to that pre-1986 fuel storage operation. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during the tank's 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.