This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1965. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a Douglas Oil Company gasoline service station from approximately 1965 through 1985, with underground storage tanks for gasoline and waste oil. The USTs and station building were removed in 1985, and the site was later redeveloped with an automotive transmission shop around 1990. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included two phases of soil excavation — 40 cubic yards removed in 1990 and approximately 220 tons in 2003 — along with application of Oxygen Release Compound to treat residual contamination and installation of a groundwater monitoring well for verification. 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.
Petroleum contamination at this property originated from underground storage tanks that were installed and operated from the mid-1960s through 1985 — squarely within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. Two decades of documented remediation expenditures, including multi-phase soil excavation, in-situ treatment, and groundwater monitoring, were incurred to address releases tied directly to those pre-1986 fueling operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies to the station's operators during that twenty-year 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.