This property has a documented history as a automobile dealership going back to 1936. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has served as an automotive sales hub in Port Angeles since at least 1936, hosting a succession of car dealerships — Schreiner-Kyle Chevy Co., Janish Motor Co., and Robertson Motors — alongside a truck repair facility and an internal fuel-dispensing pump island fed by an underground storage tank. Underground storage tanks were in use as early as the 1950s and removed in the early to mid-1980s, while an above-ground heating oil tank remained in service until approximately 1986. Environmental investigations conducted in 1997 and 2000–2001, involving soil and groundwater sampling and monitoring well installation, produced a No Further Action determination under the Voluntary Cleanup Program for petroleum releases. 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 petroleum contamination at this property traces directly to UST operations and a truck repair facility that were active for decades before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were still the industry standard and lacked effective pollution exclusions in Washington. Car dealerships operating here from the 1930s onward — selling vehicles, running repairs, and dispensing fuel — would have carried CGL policies across that entire pre-1986 window. The investigation and monitoring expenditures that ultimately secured the No Further Action determination represent documented cleanup costs plausibly recoverable from the historical carriers who insured those operations.
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.
