This property has a documented history as a auto body / repair shop going back to 1945. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has operated continuously as an automotive shop since 1945, with the current business — a towing and vehicle maintenance company operated by Terry Birkholz — continuing that use on the same site. Poor storage and handling practices at the facility produced heavily contaminated soil, leading to independent remedial action under the Voluntary Cleanup Program. Washington State Department of Ecology issued a no-further-remedial-action determination in June 1998. 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.
Automotive operations at this property began in 1945, more than four decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies routinely lacked effective pollution exclusions. The soil contamination here resulted directly from storage and handling practices spanning that pre-1986 operational period, making it precisely the kind of historical release those earlier policies were written to cover. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the operators of this automotive shop during those decades of pre-1986 use may still be obligated to address the remediation expenditures incurred to reach the 1998 closure.
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.
