This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station predating 1986. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has operated as a gasoline service station — an ARCO/AM-PM facility — with three 10,000-gallon single-walled steel underground storage tanks that stored regular leaded gasoline. Environmental reporting began in 1993, and cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included excavation and removal of all three USTs along with over 1,500 tons of contaminated soil, operation of a combined air sparging and soil vapor extraction system from 1996 to 1998 that recovered 48 pounds of gasoline-range hydrocarbons, and pumping and discharge of 5,000 gallons of groundwater from the excavation. Quarterly groundwater monitoring continued from 1994 through at least 2012, and 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.
Gasoline contamination at this property originated from single-walled steel USTs that stored leaded fuel — a product phased out before 1986 — confirming that the release began during the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The documented remediation expenditures — UST removal, excavation and off-site disposal of over 1,500 tons of soil, air sparging and vapor extraction, groundwater pumping, and nearly two decades of quarterly monitoring — represent costs tied directly to those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies 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.