This property has a documented history as a property with a heating oil tank going back to 1950. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This Tacoma property was developed beginning in 1950, and a 500-gallon steel underground heating oil storage tank served the facility for an undetermined period before being identified during a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment completed by Aerotech in September 2013. In December 2013, the UST and approximately 148 tons of petroleum-contaminated soil were removed, with excavation reaching 17 feet. The Voluntary Cleanup Program resulted in a No Further Action determination subject to an Environmental Covenant that imposes ongoing institutional controls — land use restrictions, cap maintenance, and soil vapor controls — alongside long-term compliance air monitoring and periodic reviews. 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 heating oil tank at this property was installed when the facility was first developed in 1950, placing its operational history squarely within the era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion. The petroleum hydrocarbon contamination documented here reflects the kind of slow, diffuse release from a long-in-place UST that pre-1986 CGL policies were written to cover. Remediation expenditures — tank removal, excavation of nearly 150 tons of impacted soil, and the ongoing monitoring and covenant compliance this site now requires — could plausibly be recovered from historical carriers whose policies were in force during the decades the tank was in operation.
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.
