This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1985. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property operated as a gasoline service station at the Amex Tax & Duty Free Shops West in Blaine, with four underground storage tanks installed in April 1985 to store gasoline and five dispensing pumps across three pump islands. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included removal of all four USTs, distribution lines, pump islands, and a monitoring well, along with excavation and thermal desorption treatment of approximately 703 cubic yards of contaminated soil and disposal of 24,400 gallons of contaminated water from the tank pit. The site has received a No Further Action determination from Ecology. 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 underground storage tanks at this property were installed in 1985 — squarely within the window when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. Gasoline-range petroleum contamination migrated from those tanks into the surrounding soil and groundwater over years of routine operations, producing the kind of gradual, ongoing release those pre-1986 policies were designed to cover. The documented remediation expenditures — tank removal, large-scale soil excavation and treatment, contaminated-water disposal, and confirmation sampling — represent cleanup costs that historical carriers who wrote CGL coverage during the 1985 operational period may still be obligated to reimburse.
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
Ready to learn more?
Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
