This property has a documented history as a automobile dealership going back to 1975. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This Aberdeen property operated as an automotive sales and service center; the Lebid family purchased it in 1975, and the site housed at least two underground storage tanks — a 500-gallon waste oil tank and a 2,100-gallon heating oil tank — along with hydraulic hoists used in vehicle servicing. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included removal of both tanks, extraction of the hydraulic hoists, and excavation and off-site disposal of at least 39 cubic yards of contaminated soil, as well as pumping of water and fuel mixtures from one tank and asphalt removal in areas of creosote-impacted soils. All removed waste was properly disposed of, 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.
The contamination here — petroleum hydrocarbons from waste and heating oil tanks and creosote in soil — originated from automotive service infrastructure that was installed and actively used well before 1986, including a waste oil tank estimated to have been in place since approximately 1965. Occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies issued to operators during that pre-1986 window carried no effective pollution exclusion under Washington law and remain enforceable today. The documented remediation costs at this site — dual UST removals, hydraulic hoist extraction, contaminated soil excavation, and proper waste disposal — represent expenditures that historical carriers who insured operations here may be obligated to recover.
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.
