This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1975. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
Commercial structures at this property date to the mid-1970s, and Washington State Ecology UST records document two underground storage tanks — both under 1,100 gallons — used by past operators to store leaded and unleaded gasoline. Cleanup activities from April 2018 through April 2019 included removal of a 285-gallon UST and 100 gallons of associated product, along with excavation and off-site disposal of 173.18 tons of petroleum-contaminated soil. Washington State Ecology issued a No Further Action determination upon project completion in April 2019. 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 storage of leaded gasoline in underground tanks at this property began in the mid-1970s — operations that predate 1986 by at least a decade, during the period when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The UST removed in 2018 exhibited visible pinholes and weld failures, physical evidence of long-term corrosion consistent with slow, chronic release from pre-1986 operations rather than any recent incident. Historical CGL carriers who issued policies to operators during that window may still be obligated to recover the documented remediation costs — tank removal, product recovery, and excavation of over 173 tons of impacted soil.
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.
